Saussurea costus: A Source of Anticancer Bioactives

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally and is responsible for an estimated 9.6 million
deaths in 2018. Plant-derived products or extracts are used in folk/traditional medicine to treat several
ailments or disorders. The anticancer activity of Saussurea costus and its mode of intervention in
human cancer cells of breast, colon, and liver were investigated. The bio-actives of S. costus leaves
extensively extracted in five solvents of different polarity were investigated for cytotoxic activity
against breast (MCF-7), liver (HepG2), and colon (HCT116) cancer cell lines. Secondary metabolites
extracted in hexane, methanol, ethyl acetate, and chloroform solvents had the highest cytotoxicity and
thus the greatest anticancer effect on all the cancer cell lines tested, while as that of butanol was
comparatively less active. Further investigations revealed that the extract arrested the cells in the G1
phase of cell cycle and induced apoptosis. The elevated expression of pro-apoptotic proteins and
decreased expression of anti-apoptotic proteins confirmed that the intrinsic (mitochondrial) pathway
was involved in mediating the apoptosis of cancer cells upon treatment with S. costus extract. These
results suggest that the S. costus extract is the potential source of the secondary metabolites that
could be used as anti-cancer agent to treat diverse cancers of breast, colon, and liver. However,
further evaluations, active compound isolations, in vitro and in vivo evaluations are recommended for
future research on these active ingredients.