One study reported that K18 was involved in the intracellular clearance of cargo proteins by promoting autophagosome-lysosomal fusion, and another study demonstrated the presence of DR5 in autophagosomes in breast cancer cells, which suggested that K18 may reduce DR5 expression on the cell surface through post-translational pathways mediating autophagy rather than acting at the transcription level (69, 70). This evidence concerns the gene KRT18 and breast cancer.