Effect of nasturtium extract on oral cancer

Considering the global prevalence of cancers and the complications of common cancer treatments, there is growing interest in using medicinal herbs to complement cancer treatments and reduce treatment’s side effects. Therefore, we investigate the effect of the extract of Nasturtium on the viability of oral cancer cells.

In this experimental study, we prepared aqueous extract from Nasturtium leaves and human oral cancer cells(OCC‑24) and normal fibroblast cells (HF2FF cell line) from a cell bank. Then the toxic effect of different concentrations of the extract on cell viability after 24–48 hours of exposure was investigated with the methylthiazol tetrazolium assay. Ultimately, the optical density was measured at 570 nm by an Elisa Reader. Analysis of inhibitory concentration 50 (IC50) was also performed. The data were analyzed by paired Student’s t‑test and one‑way analysis of variance.

Data showed that the extract had statistically significant anticancer effects in concentrations above 0.125 mg/ml for 24‑hour exposure and in concentrations above 0.5 mg/ml for 48‑hour exposure (p‑value <0.05). Also, this extract had an adverse effect on the viability of normal cells; however, this effect occurred in high doses of the extract (p‑value <0.05). Analysis of IC50 criteria indicates that with increasing time, a higher concentration of the extract is required to inhibit the viability of cancer cells.

Because of the results, this aqueous extract can be suggested as a potential therapeutic agent in oral cancer. The best concentration of the extract was found to be 1 mg/ml.