Considering our results in a broader context, we propose that the apoptosis induced by E-cad endocytosis and EGFR:STAT92E activation provides a mechanism for the elimination of potential cancer cells undergoing cell-cell adhesion disassembly during epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions and, thus, is likely to play an important tumour-suppressive role. The gene discussed is CDH1; the disease is cancer.