MAPK8 and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: However, Tsujimoto et al. and Kim et al. showed that pitavastatin enhances H2O2-induced apoptosis in VSMCs by increasing the phosphorylation of p-p38 and p-JNK [65], while pitavastatin-induced apoptosis in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma cells (SCC12 and SCC13) occurs via activation of p-JNK and does not affect p-p38 [66].