Evaluation of Echinophora Tenuifolia L. Extracts on HSC-2 Cell Line ^†

Oral squamous cell carcinoma survival is still poor, although the improvement in treatments both in surgical and chemotherapy [1]. Conventional treatments are also associated with acute and chronic toxicity, which leads to a decrease of quality life [2]. Natural compounds are a promising alternative, since they can affect the different steps of tumor cell development, with poor toxic events. E. Tenuifolia L. showed promising anticancer activities in several cancer models, due to its antioxidant activity [3,4]. In order to verify its anticancer activity in a cellular model of squamous cell carcinoma, HSC-2, we performed a MTT cell proliferation assay, by adding this compound at time 0 (t0). HSC-2 were cultured in cell culture flask at 37 °C with 5% CO₂ in RPMI medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 1% penicillin-streptomycin and 1% l-Glutammine. We used the inflorescences total extract (20 mg/mL in EtOH 70%) and we evaluated the production of formazan in order to determine the cell viability, at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h. When comparing these results, with results coming from cells in addition with ethanol only, we observed a decrease in cell viability of 40%. Future studies should deeply investigate the role of Echinophora Tenuifolia L. as possible adjuvant in cancer therapy, in order to understand its role in pathways and molecular targets.