Compound 23 showed higher antiproliferative activity against a panel of 20 cancer cell lines (IC50 = 0.5–1.5 μM) than compound 2b and induced caspase-dependent apoptosis in HeLa cells by blocking the interaction of p53 with mortalin in the mitochondria, followed by Bak-mediated mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization. This evidence concerns the gene HSPA9 and cancer.