BAX and lung cancer: In an in vitro study of A549, H1975, and HCC827 lung cancer cell lines, Zhang et al. (2017) found that metformin combined with pemetrexed not only inhibited cell proliferation but also induced cell apoptosis, as validated by western blot analysis of reduced levels of an antiapoptotic molecule (Bcl-2) and elevated levels of a proapoptotic molecule (Bax).