Potentially, protection from gefitinib-induced apoptosis in H1650 cells relates to its higher level of pAKT and/or pERK1/2 (unpublished data), since an inability of gefitinib to block AKT and/or ERK1/2 activation has previously been linked to apoptosis resistance in NSCLC cells [21,35]. Here, MAPK3 is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.