Whereas Noxa had been proposed to be a critical mediator of p53-dependent apoptosis (Oda et al, 2000), p53-independent upregulation of Noxa has been described in MCL and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (Pérez-Galán et al, 2006; Smit et al, 2007). The gene discussed is PMAIP1; the disease is B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.