Our data that TWIST1 activates RELA to induce IL8 expression suggest that in breast epithelial and cancer cells, the expression of TWIST1 can translate an extracellular signal, such as hypoxia, and signal intracellularly to modify the activity of endogenous RELA and induce IL8 expression specifically when there is no apparent extracellular signal for NF-κB activation. Here, TWIST1 is linked to cancer.