CASP3 and non-Hodgkin lymphoma: In NHL cell lines, CD40 ligand expressed on adjacent non tumoral cells was found capable 1) to inhibit the apoptosis induced by five different commonly used cytotoxic agents (DOX, ETO, CDDP, VIN, TAX), 2) to inhibit the activation of caspase-3/7 induced by DOX, ETO, VIN and TAX, 3) to inhibit drugs (DOX, ETO, VIN TAX) induced PARP cleavage by apoptosis protease like YAMA/CPP32/Apopain/Caspase-3 and 4) to partially reverse the antiproliferative effect of the five cytotoxic agents in the 5 NHL cell lines tested.