Importantly, MCF-7 and A549 pre-treated with 20 μM each of the corresponding inhibitors for caspase 3 (Z-DEVD-FMK), caspase 8 (Z-IETD-FMK), and PAN-caspase (Z-VAD-FMK) conferred significant protection to the cells from Z-DAN-11-mediated apoptosis as evidenced from Fig. 6f, confirming that Z-DAN-11-mediated tumor cell apoptosis was caspase dependent. This evidence concerns the gene CASP3 and neoplasm.