The present invention concerns pharmaceutical compositions comprising DAPK or inhibitors or activators thereof in the treatment, prevention, amelioration and delay of cancer or in the induction or suppression of inflammation as well as predictive methods for determining the risk of developing cancer in a subject, for determining the overall and disease-free survival time of a subject suffering from cancer and for deciding a personalized therapy for a subject suffering from cancer. Further, kits in order to perform said predictive methods are described.