In this context, miR-221 plays a crucial role in breast cancer for the following reasons: i) miR-221 is significantly overexpressed in triple-negative primary breast cancers; ii) the oncosuppressor p27Kip1, a validated target of miR-221, is downregulated in aggressive cancer cell lines; and iii) the upregulation of a key transcription factor, Slug, appears to be crucial, since it binds to the miR-221/miR-222 promoter and is responsible for the high expression of the miR-221/miR-222 cluster in breast cancer cells. The gene discussed is SNAI2; the disease is cancer.