In both ILDs and lung cancer, dysregulation of kinases and phosphatases can lead to aberrant activation of growth-promoting pathways (such as phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) - protein kinase B (Akt) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways) or inactivation of growth-inhibitory pathways (such as transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling), promoting uncontrolled cell proliferation and survival, contributing to the pathogenesis of both diseases (19). The gene discussed is WNK2; the disease is lung cancer.