It has been widely accepted that HIF-1 functions in multiple steps of distant tumour metastasis3, 7, for example, in the acquisition of an invasive phenotype of cancer cells through the so-called epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, local invasion to blood vessels by degrading the extracellular matrix, formation of a premetastatic niche in distant organs, extravasation by degrading the extracellular matrix and adaptation to the microenvironments of distant tissues3, 19. Here, HIF1A is linked to cancer.