These findings suggest a dichotomy within the tumor microenvironment (TME), where cytokines that are generally associated with favorable outcomes also promote elevated tumor NOS2/COX2 expressions (Fig. 1A), which are strong predictors of poor disease-specific survival in ER- breast cancer patients (Fig. 1B) [7, 9, 10]. The gene discussed is PTGS2; the disease is breast carcinoma.