Cytotoxicity of Etlingera pavieana rhizome extract on resistant-cervical cancer cells

Cervical cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women worldwide. Cisplatin-based treatment is most often used in chemotherapy of the disease. However, serious adverse effects and drug-resistant development limit cisplatin in clinical practice. Crude extracts of edible plants can serve as an alternate source of novel anticancer agents that are safe and are able to face chemoresistance. Rhizome of Etlingera pavieana or Raew hawm, an aromatic plant commonly found in Southeast Asia, is a well-known spice and food ingredient used in the Eastern region of Thailand. In the previous studies, E. pavieana rhizome extract exhibited an inhibitory effect on the proliferation of various cancer cells including those resistant to doxorubicin, with much lower toxicity on non-cancer cells. In this ongoing study, the cisplatin-resistant cervical C-33A/R cells were established and were subjected to investigate the cytotoxic effect of the extract. MTT results demonstrated that the viability of C-33A/R cells was significantly reduced after extract treatment in both dose- and time-dependent manners. At 400 μg/mL extract, growth of C-33A/R cells was decreased by 77.32% at 72-hour incubation. The IC50 value against the resistant cells was 269.36 μg/mL which was slightly higher than that of parental cells (230.99 μg/mL). The results suggest E. pavieana rhizome extract as a source of promising anticancer candidates for cervical cancer treatment.