CASP3 and ovarian carcinoma: Furthermore, incubation of multidrug resistant ovarian cancer cells (OAW42-A) with costunolide attenuated cell growth with an IC50 of 25 μM, and induced apoptosis, which was mediated through induction of Bax, decreased the expression of Bcl-2 and cleavage of caspase-3 and 9.