Remarkably, and in contrast to most studies demonstrating that inhibition of the NF-κB pathway restores TNF-induced cell death in normal and cancer cells, Rushworth et al. demonstrate in this issue that NF-κB inhibition only affords partial restoration of apoptosis in AML cells, due to the up-regulation of HO-1. Here, HMOX1 is linked to acute myeloid leukemia.