Synthesis and cytotoxic evaluation of novel hybrid estrane heterocycles as chemotherapeutic anti-cancer agents

The effect of steroid derivatives on MCF7, PC3 and HepG2 cells. [Display omitted] •Novel class of hybrid estrane heterocyclic derivatives were synthesized and evaluated by analytical and spectral data.•The cytotoxicity of the synthesized confirmed compounds was investigated against three human cell lines.•Compounds 10a, 10b, 2c, and 14 revealed more inhibitory influence on MCF7, PC3 and HepG2 growth than the reference drug doxorubicin (Dox) after 24 h incubation.•The results were confirmed by morphology study. New synthesized hybrid steroidal heterocyclic compounds have received a lot of attention in view of their biological activities as anticancer agents. In this study, a novel class of hybrid estrane heterocyclic compounds were synthesized and evaluated by analytical and spectral data which proved the validity of these derivatives. The cytotoxicity of synthesized compounds 2a, 2b, 2c, 3b, 8, 10a, 10b, 13, 14, 16a and 19 against three human cell lines: breast cancer cells (MCF-7), prostate cancer cells (PC3), and liver cancer cells (HepG2) has been tested using MTT assay. Compounds 10a, 10b, 2c, and 14 revealed more inhibitory influence on MCF7, PC3 and HepG2 growth than the reference drug doxorubicin (Dox) after 24 h incubation. Noteworthy, the tested compounds 10a, 10b, 2c, and 14 exhibited the most pronounced effect in this respect. The results were confirmed by morphology study.