A, Gemcitabine, VEDT, and combination of the 2 drugs significantly induced apoptotic tumor cells (CK18) in the plasma by 45% (bP<0.01), 71% (aP<0.001), and 84% (aP<0.001), respectively, compared to vehicle. Results are mean and SE (n=5). B, Cleaved caspase 3 immunostaining in pancreatic tumors after drug treatment (top). Semiquantitative analysis (histogram at bottom) shows that gemcitabine (bP<0.05), VEDT (aP<0.001), and gemcitabine + VEDT (aP<0.001) treatment significantly increased immunostaining of cleaved caspase 3 versus vehicle. Results are means and SE (n=5). C, Western blot of PARP1 cleavage and pro-apoptotic protein Bax expression in tumor tissues of drug-treated KPC mice. Gemcitabine, VEDT, and gemcitabine + VEDT increased apoptosis marker PARP1 cleavage and Bax expression compared to vehicle (n =5). All statistical analyses were performed using ANOVA with Duncan test.