HMOX1 and prostate cancer: Bilirubin thus is an essential contributor to cellular and tissue protection attributed to increased HO-1 production; the increased production and nuclear translocation of HO-1 observed in prostate cancers is likely to be a mechanism of cytoprotection, given the abnormal redox status of tumor cells prior to neovascularization (Sacca et al., 2007; Ferrando et al., 2011, 2013; Biswas et al., 2014).