BNIP3L and neoplasm: Latterly the discovery of BNIP3L-promoted mitochondrial elimination by autophagy in developing reticulocytes opened a new horizon in BNIP3L research [7, 8], BNIP3L-induced mitophagy has since been identified in natural killer cells, neurons, retinal ganglion cells, renal cells, and several types of tumor cells [16, 39, 40].