CASP3 and neoplasm: The IC50 values of compound 4b were 4.42 ± 0.24 μM (NCI-H1299 cells), 3.94 ± 0.01 μM (A549 cells), and 1.56 ± 0.06 μM (NCI-H1437 cells) exerting their anti-tumor effects by triggering apoptosis, increasing the levels of activated caspase 3 and cleaved-PARP, and decreasing the expression of Bcl-2 protein (Liu et al., 2024).