In contrast, NAC pretreatment suppressed the activation of caspase 3/8/9 and cleavage of PARP in PHA and/or BafA1 treated MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, implying PHA-triggered ROS induces cytoprotective autophagy and detrimental extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis in breast cancer cells. Here, CASP3 is linked to breast carcinoma.