Pro-tumorogenic effects of GDF15 have been linked with increased activity of different signaling pathways (PI3K/AKT, MAPK/ERK, TGF-β/SMAD), but apart from mediating cancer-induced cachexia (Suriben et al., 2020), a role for GDF15/GFRAL axis in cancer remains to be determined. The gene discussed is TGFB1; the disease is cancer.