Finally, NSCLC cells were pretreated with the pancaspase inhibitor Z-VAD-fmk before YZT treatment and immunoblotting demonstrated that Z-VAD-fmk markedly inhibited YZT-induced activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 and cleavage of PARP (Figure 1h), suggesting that caspase activation is necessary for inducing apoptosis. This evidence concerns the gene CASP3 and non-small cell lung carcinoma.