We illuminated that Huaier-induced apoptosis was mediated by activation of caspase-3, caspase-7, and PARP in SKHEP-1 cells (Fig. 2), which was consistent with previous studies revealing that Huaier could induce caspase 3-mediated apoptosis in human melanoma cells31, human breast cancer cells12, and human hepatocellular carcinoma cells28. Here, CASP3 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.