A gene profiling signature for diagnosis and prognosis of cancer patients is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the gene signature includes 32 or 79 cancer survival factor-associated genes. Thus, provided herein is a method of determining the prognosis of a subject with a tumor by detecting expression of five of more cancer survival factor-associated genes in a tumor sample and comparing expression of the five or more cancer survival factor-associated genes in the tumor sample to a control. In some examples, an increase in expression of ABCF1, CORO1C, DPP3, PREB, UBE3A, and PTDSS1 in a tumor sample compared to a control sample indicates poor prognosis. Further provided are arrays including probes or antibodies specific for a plurality of cancer survival factor-associated genes or proteins.