BCL2 and acute myeloid leukemia: BCL-2, an oncogene, received its name following its discovery in follicular lymphoma whereby the translocation of chromosomes 14 and 18 leads to its overexpression.60,61 Although BCL-2 inhibitors were initially developed for lymphoid malignancies, mRNA expression studies in mice incidentally demonstrated that BCL-2 is also upregulated in early myeloid progenitor cells of the bone marrow.62 Naturally, investigations of BCL-2 inhibition spilled over into the field of AML.