Cantharidin, a compound derived from traditional Chinese medicine 172, not only restrains the binding of HSF1 to the HSP70 promoter, but also hinders the recruitment of HSF1-dependent p-TEFb and blocks the p-TEFb-dependent phosphorylation of C-terminal domain (CTD) of Pol II, thereby arresting the transcriptional elongation and inducing apoptotic cell death in CRC cells (Table 1) 173. The gene discussed is HSF1; the disease is colorectal carcinoma.