Indeed, we observed that the level of activated p38 negatively correlated with the level of SOX2 in NSCLC cells, and that constitutive activation of p38 in cells with low level of p-p38 reduced the expression of SOX2 and other stemness proteins, the percentage of the side population and the ability to form spheres, while dominant negative inhibition of p38 in cells with high p-p38 level increased the expression of stemness proteins, the percentage of the side population and the sphere forming ability. The gene discussed is MAPK14; the disease is non-small cell lung carcinoma.