Investigating the molecular mechanisms behind the adaptation of HER2+ breast cancer cells to hypoxic conditions, Bashari et al. found a correlation between hypoxia and the anti-apoptotic Mcl-1 (myeloid cell leukemia-1) oncoprotein that is often amplified in breast cancer, showing that the latter confers protection of HER2+ cells to hypoxia [21]. The gene discussed is ERBB2; the disease is breast cancer.