BCL2 and cancer: Apoptosis,or programmed cell death, is a highly regulated processthat plays a crucial role in maintaining homeostasis and eliminatingaged, excessive, or damaged cells., Evasion ofapoptosis is a hallmark of cancer and frequently caused by dysregulationof the Bcl-2 family proteins, which regulate the intrinsic apoptosispathway., The Bcl-2 family is comprised of antiapoptotic(Bcl-2, Mcl-1, Bcl-xL) and pro-apoptotic members.−, , , ,  The pro-apoptotic members include the Bcl-2 homology domain 3 (BH3)only proteins (BIM, BID, PUMA, NOXA) and the multidomain effectorproteins (BAK, BAX).