β-catenin regulates cell–cell adhesion and maintains stemness through Wnt signalling, but how these functions are mechanistically related is not fully understood. A study now identifies CRAD as the mechanistic link, providing insight into how dysregulation of epithelial adhesion contributes to Wnt-driven tumorigenesis.

Lee, Singh et al. find that cancer-specific intronic polyadenylation events occur frequently in tumour suppressor genes in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and generate truncated proteins that could act as CLL drivers.

Ferroptosis is a regulated non-apoptotic form of cell death and its functional role in tumorigenesis remains elusive. A study now shows that the tumour suppressor BAP1 enhances ferroptosis by modulating expression of the cystine transporter SLC7A11, leading to improved control of tumour growth.

Professor Kum Kum Khanna heads the Signal Transduction Laboratory at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia. She studies the role of the DNA damage response in tissue homeostasis and disease, including how to exploit its dysregulation in breast cancer to develop targeted therapeutic approaches.