CASP3 and colonic neoplasm: Another study has found that genistein induces apoptosis in colon cancer cells by up-regulating caspase-3 gene expression and inhibiting the proliferation and migration of the cancer cells The study also reports a down-regulation of p38 MAPK gene expression and a decrease in the level of p38 MAPK protein by genistein in colon cancer cells (Shafiee et al., 2016).