BAX and liver cancer: Pretreatment of SMMC-7721 and Bel-7402 liver cancer cells with 50μM luteolin showed that the level of apoptosis factor Bax was up-regulated, the anti-apoptotic factor Bcl-2 was down-regulated, caspase-3 enzyme was activated, and mitochondrial membrane potential was reduced and induced Liver cancer cells to undergo apoptosis and exert their anti-liver cancer function 71.