The binding of oblimersen to the Bcl-2 mRNA targets the duplex for cleavage by RNase H and prevents translation into the Bcl-2 protein (Fig. 2c).70 In preclinical studies, oblimersen was shown to decrease Bcl-2 mRNA to nearly undetectable ranges and showed promising efficacy in in vivo leukemia xenograft models.70,71 Following the promising preclinical data, oblimersen was the first drug targeting Bcl-2 to be used for clinical trials in AML. This evidence concerns the gene BCL2 and acute myeloid leukemia.