Sinceinhibition of NF-κB is currently beingexplored as a way of potentiating anti-cancer therapy [21,75] it isessential to define specifically where and when NF-κB shows a preferentially pro- or anti-apoptotic face.The observation that NF-κB controls expression ofNoxa in the absence of functional p53, and loss of p53 function occurs in>50% of human tumours, suggests that in some contexts inhibition of NF-κB may compromise, rather than enhance, the efficacy ofconventional anti-cancer therapy. The gene discussed is NFKB1; the disease is cancer.