In support of the mechanisms observed in the HCC cell lines, Salazar et al. investigated ∆9-THC in the astrocytoma cell line U87MG and in vivo where they report autophagy induction via the upregulation of p8 leading to apoptosis and inhibition of Akt and mTORC1 (Salazar et al. 2009). The gene discussed is NUPR1; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.