In view of this, it is interesting to note recent studies that treatment with pine needle-derived essential oil induces apoptosis in human liver cancer cells and Bcl-2 expression is down-regulated in the essential oil-induced apoptotic cells (21) and the apoptotic response in human oral epidermoid cancer cells to essential oil from Artemisia iwayomogi is in part mediated via Bcl-2 down-regulation (26). The gene discussed is BCL2; the disease is cancer.