Understanding how tumor cells manage to survive and proliferate in ever-changing and often harmful microenvironments is a daunting challenge in tumor biology, and a major cause of treatment failure in the oncology clinic. Recent data have now demonstrated a direct link between the molecular chaperone Hsp90 and survivin, a dual regulator of cell proliferation and cell death over-expressed in virtually every human tumor. While the survivin-Hsp90 association may help tumor cells elevate their anti-apoptotic threshold and promote their proliferation, it may also provide new opportunities for rational cancer therapy.