Cytoplasmic PHD3 positivity was significantly associated with BRCA2 (23/33, 70%) and BRCAX (39/54, 72%) compared with BRCA1 (18/38, 47%) (P=0.037) tumours, but there was no significant difference in expression of cytoplasmic PHD1 and PHD2 within the familial breast cancer groups (P=0.105 and P=0.615, respectively) (Table 3). This evidence concerns the gene EGLN1 and breast cancer.