Maspin is a tumor-suppressor protein, and its overexpression might induce apoptosis through regulating several members of Bcl-2 family.27 Interestingly, our results showed that SFN-Cys significantly increased the expression of maspin in NSCLC cells in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting that SFN-Cys-induced apoptosis might be associated with maspin upregulation. This evidence concerns the gene BCL2 and non-small cell lung carcinoma.