Smoking has also been found to be a risk factor for prostate cancer progression and mortality in cohort studies24 and systematic reviews.8 Low albumin was associated with prostate cancer mortality in the Apolipoprotein-related MOrtality RISk (AMORIS) cohort25 and, along with anaemia,26 was a more widely accepted predictor of poor cancer outcomes.27 The published literature around the prognostic effect of beta-blockers for prostate cancer patients has been more mixed,28 with this study lending weight to the evidence of increased mortality in patients with cancer. The gene discussed is ALB; the disease is prostate cancer.