In NSCLC, HIF-1α is upregulated in tumor tissues and cell lines, and its overexpression facilitates the proliferation, migration, and invasion of cancer cells; what's more, the 5 year survival rate of patients with a low expression level of HIF-1α is higher than that of patients with a high expression level of HIF-1α (He et al., 2016; Jing et al., 2017; Chi et al., 2019). The gene discussed is HIF1A; the disease is cancer.