Runx1: no longer just for leukemia

Some 20 years after original work positioned Runx1 as crucial for haematopoiesis and leukaemia formation (Miyoshi et al, 1991; Okuda et al, 1996), a study in this issue of the EMBO Journal (Scheitz et al, 2012) reveals that the RUNX1/Stat3 axis also promotes carcinogenesis in epithelial tissues.