On the basis of the above mentioned considerations, the aim of our present study has been to investigate, in the human lung adenocarcinoma cell line GLC-82 exposed to H2O2, the effects of simvastatin on cell viability and apoptosis, ERK phosphorylation, MMP2/9 and RECK protein expression, NF-κB nuclear content and interleukin-8 (IL-8) secretion. The gene discussed is MAPK1; the disease is lung adenocarcinoma.