Increased HIF-1α contents have been documented in cholesteatoma tissues, and recurrent cholesteatomas result in an elevated degree of hypoxia than ears without surgery patients, suggesting that the cholesteatoma has been recognized as a hypoxic tissue and HIF-1α plays a vital role in the proliferation ability of cholesteatoma epithelium 6. The gene discussed is HIF1A; the disease is cholesteatoma.