CASP9 and colorectal cancer: on HT29 cells in a time-, dose-, and strain-dependent manner, with the heat-killed probiotic bacteria acting as apoptosis inducers through increased expressions of Bax, caspase-3, and caspase-9 mRNA levels and reduced expressions of Bcl2 [47]; these results were confirmed in an in vivo study on xenografted BALB/c nude mice, where species of Lactobacillus were able to inhibit the growth of colorectal cancer [52].