Cancer cells are frequently exposed to microenvironmental stresses, including amino acid deprivation and hypoxia, which are often targeted for cancer therapy. Here, we examined the effect of hypoxia in cysteine-deprived breast cancer cells and the mechanism to counteract the hypoxia effect.Cell death was determined by annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide staining. Expression of mRNAs and proteins was determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis, respectively.Cysteine deprivation or sulfasalazine, a potent inhibitor of cysteine/glutamate transporter, induced cell death by activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) up-regulation. Hypoxia significantly suppressed cell death and ATF4 up-regulation induced by cysteine deprived conditions. In addition, tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand reversed the effect of hypoxia on cysteine deprived conditions.Prevention of hypoxia may be a means for augmenting the effect of amino acid deprivation as a strategy for cancer therapy.