TP53 and cancer: As shown in Fig. 8A, cytotoxicity (IC50) of well-known chemotherapeutic agents such as taxol, etoposide, cisplatin, and doxorubicin were found to be increased in the p53-deficient apoptosis-resistant cancer cells, whereas neferine exhibited similar cytotoxicity towards both HCT-116 p53-wild type and -deficient cancer cells, confirming the anti-cancer potency of neferine on p53 deficient apoptosis-resistant cancers.