These results are similar to the finding that pemetrexed induced Noxa upregulation and Mcl‐1 downregulation concurrently, which accelerates pemetrexed‐induced apoptosis in NSCLC cells.52 Interestingly, in the current study, we found that deguelin promoted Bax and Noxa mitochondrial protein levels. This evidence concerns the gene MCL1 and non-small cell lung carcinoma.