CASP3 and breast carcinoma: Moreover, a recent study demonstrated that epicatechin acts as an agonist towards the novel androgen receptor ZIP9 by miming testosterone-induced apoptosis through this receptor in prostate and breast cancer cells; in particular, it exerted androgenic actions inducing cell death through an intrinsic apoptotic pathway, as confirmed by bax expression increase, cytochrome c release and caspase-3 activation [136].