In summary, natural compound deguelin suppresses the growth of NSCLC cells regardless of their p53 status, and this anti‐tumour activity is partly dependent on the downregulation of Bmi1 and thus circumventing Bmi1‐mediated Noxa repression, resulting in Noxa induction and finally leading to NSCLC cells apoptosis. Here, BMI1 is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.