Pinnix et al. have shown that human breast cancer tissue expresses hepcidin and ferroportin, the sole iron export channel in vertebrates: low ferroportin gene expression was associated with poor outcome, while a combination of high ferroportin and low hepcidin was associated with a good prognosis suggesting ferroportin may be a strong and independent predictor of prognosis in breast cancer [1]. The gene discussed is SLC40A1; the disease is breast cancer.