SMARCA1 plays a vital role in maintaining cell survival and cell cycle progression, as inhibition of SMARCA1 leads to the upregulation of Apoptotic Protease Activating Factor 1 (APAF1) and thus increased activity of caspase 9 in primary breast cancers (Ye et al., 2009; Li et al., 2021). The gene discussed is APAF1; the disease is breast cancer.