In addition to supplying high levels of chaperones to cancer cells, Hsf1 takes on specialized transcriptional roles to support malignant growth, and its activity is associated with poor prognosis in a range of human cancers (Mendillo et al., 2012; Santagata et al., 2011; Scherz-Shouval et al., 2014). This evidence concerns the gene HSF1 and cancer.