Indeed, role of HMOX1 in cancer progression has been highlighted and, even though some tissue specificity need to be considered, in many cancer types its expression correlates with tumor growth, aggressiveness, metastatic and angiogenetic potential, resistance to therapy, tumor escape, and poor prognosis (Furfaro et al., 2016; Nitti et al., 2017; Piras et al., 2017). The gene discussed is HMOX1; the disease is cancer.