TWIST1 and cancer: NF-κB increases EMT-associated genes SNAI1, TWIST1, ZEB1, and VIM in a variety of disease processes including pulmonary lung fibrosis and many cancers: head and neck, prostate, pancreatic, and breast cancer (Lilienbaum & Paulin, 1993; Huber et al, 2004; Min et al, 2008; Tian et al, 2017).