We found that HCC tissues from 50% (n = 7) of the patients treated with sorafenib and TRAIL revealed apoptotic cell death, as indicated by an increase of caspase-3/-7 activity (≥1.5 fold compared to the respective untreated control HCC tissue), whereas the other 50% of HCC tissues (n = 7) showed apoptosis resistance towards these agents (Fig. 2B, left panel). The gene discussed is CASP3; the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma.