MYC and cancer: In line with this, Gao et al. [24] revealed that ferulic acid, which is a derivative of hydroxycinnamic acid, can trigger HeLa cells to lead to cell cycle arrest; this is indicated by decreased expression of cyclin-D1 and p53 and p21 proteins, where cyclin-D1 expression is controlled by c-Myc protein and p53 and p21 are controlled by MDM2. A study conducted by Chen et al. [25]showed that the derivative component of hydroxycinnamic acid can inhibit histone deacetylase and inosine monophosphate which makes cancer cells enter cell cycle arrest and leads to apoptosis.