GDF-15, a protein member of TGF-β superfamily, have been shown to be highly elevated as a result of cardiomyocytes secreting these proteins in response to stimuli indicative of oxidative stress, myocardial ischemia, proinflammatory cytokines, lower peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) telomerase activity and cancer (Adela and Banerjee, 2015; Liu et al., 2021). The gene discussed is GDF15; the disease is cancer.