In a recent study, Cox and colleagues [6] add a new chapter to our understanding of metastatic niches by demonstrating that oestrogen receptor-negative (ER–) breast cancer cells with increased potential to form bone metastases secrete the enzyme lysyl oxidase (LOX) in response to hypoxia, leading to formation of osteolytic bone alterations already before cancer cells reach the bone. The gene discussed is LOX; the disease is cancer.