However, AXL silencing did not have any effect on the FGF2, VEGF-A, FGFR1, VEGFR1, and VEGFR2 expression of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells (data not shown), suggesting that AXL-mediated VM formation may be independent of the VEGF/VEGFR and FGF/FGFR axis. The gene discussed is AXL; the disease is breast cancer.