Based on their high or low expression levels, ten hub genes – H2AFX, KIF11, MCM6, MKI67, NCAPD2, PRC1, SMC2, TACC3, TOP2A, TPX2 – separated breast cancer patients into high- and low-risk groups, which showed statistically significant difference in DMFS (Additional file 4: Figure S3). The gene discussed is SMC2; the disease is breast cancer.