This molecule exerts its anti-tumor effects by reducing cell viability and inducing apoptosis through the modulation of a pro-oxidant cellular status by increasing ROS levels and by the inhibition of cellular antioxidant defenses and suppression of pathways leading to their expression, for instance the depletion of the intracellular pool of GSH and the downregulation of HO-1 expression. This evidence concerns the gene HMOX1 and neoplasm.