As shown in Figures 2,3, and4, exposure of NSCLC cell lines to pemetrexed followed by ITF2357 induced both apoptosis and autophagy; moreover pharmacological caspase inhibition by zVAD completely abolished caspase 3 activation (Additional file2: Figure S2) and apoptosis induction (Figure 3F), but only marginally affected cell viability (Figure 3E). Here, CASP3 is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.