Both HIF-1 and NF-κB are involved in cancer progression (Rayet and Gélinas, 1999; Hare et al, 2008) and have been implicated in the tumour responses to hypoxia (Royds et al, 1998; Karashima et al, 2003; Yokoi and Fidler, 2004). The gene discussed is NFKB1; the disease is cancer.