BMI1 and cancer: In addition, BMI1, through indirect mechanisms, can upregulate genes that promote cancer progression, such as the kinase Aurora A (Chou et al., 2013), and several genes involved in epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition and transforming growth factor‐β and epidermal growth factor/platelet‐derived growth factor pathways (Ferretti et al., 2016).