El-najjar and colleagues demonstrated that thymoquinone-induced apoptosis of cancer cells is associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated phosphorylation of (MAPK) JNK and ERK signaling [48], and that N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) abolishes this effect; this suggests that NAC confers antioxidant (anti-apoptotic) potential to cells in the form of GSH derivatives. This evidence concerns the gene MAPK8 and cancer.