As the numbers of cancers containing Ets rearrangements were similar to the numbers with Ets non-rearranged in the Hsp-27-negative group, but declined rapidly with increasing expression of Hsp-27 (Table 2), it is possible that strong expression of Hsp-27 might prevent subsequent rearrangement of Ets genes if these occur subsequent to changes in Hsp-27. Here, HSPB1 is linked to cancer.