BAX and nasopharyngeal carcinoma: Similar results have been provided in a study by Qi et al. in CNE-1 and CNE-2 nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines, where formononetin treatment inhibited their proliferation and induced apoptosis of CNE-1 cells, together with a decreased AKT phosphorylation, enhanced phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase (JNK/SAPK) and p38 MAPK, as well as upregulated the pro-apoptotic factors BCL2-associated X protein (BAX) and caspase-3, while downregulating the anti-apoptotic B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) [149].