BAX and breast cancer: In breast cancer mouse models, the combination of melittin and irradiation significantly reduced the clonogenic potential and tumor volume, with the decreases in tumor cell growth rates ranging from 18% to 84% across different breast cancer cell lines and melittin concentrations, while increasing the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio 1.62-fold in 4T1 cells and 4.82-fold in MCF-7 cells, indicating enhanced apoptotic sensitivity [23].