BECN1 and cancer: Studies have shown that cancer cells express lower levels of the autophagy-related proteins LC3-II and Beclin-1 than normal epithelial cells and that while heterozygous disruption of BECN1 promotes tumorigenesis, the overexpression inhibits tumorigenesis, supporting the assertion that defective autophagy or inhibition of autophagy plays a role in malignant transformation [12].