The overexpression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL, Mcl-1 or Bcl-2 occurs frequently in cancers, particularly in hematologic malignancies such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and multiple myeloma (MM), resulting in defective apoptosis leading to enhanced cell survival and drug resistance [1, 2]. Here, BCL2L1 is linked to acute myeloid leukemia.