Collectively, apoptotic data suggest that simvastatin induces apoptosis through both enhancing the activities of caspase-3/7 and promoting the cleavage of caspase-8, caspase-3 and PARP in some breast cancer cells; caspase-3 appears to be a major caspase involved in simvastatin induced apoptosis. This evidence concerns the gene CASP3 and breast carcinoma.