Genes commonly differentially expressed in the asbestos-induced tumours included known cancer and mesothelioma associated genes such as the Aurora kinases A and B, survivin, BRCA1, thymidine kinase, thymidylate synthase, eight members of the mini-chromosome maintenance protein family and topoisomerase 2 alpha (Additional file 3: Table S3). Here, BIRC5 is linked to cancer.