Although a few reports have shown a correlation between HIF-1α and poor prognosis (8,9), accurately detecting hypoxia is challenging (10) because of tumour heterogeneity, the short half-life of the protein and technical issues associated with immuno-histochemical (IHC) detection in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) sections. Here, HIF1A is linked to neoplasm.