Houttuynia cordata Thumb. extract for the treatment of triple negative breast cancer

A common herb in East Asia, Houttuynia cordata Thumb. (HCT) is known for its numerous biological properties, including its anticancer properties. However, its application in the treatment of breast cancer is largely unexplored. This is a heterogeneous group of malignancies originating from the epithelial cells lining the milk ducts and is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide, accounting for approximately 18% of all cancers in the female population. One of the aggressive and most challenging form of the breast cancer to treat is triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). The potential anticancer activities and mechanisms of HCT; however, not yet been investigated in TNBC cells. Therefore, the biological effects of HCT on the human breast cancer cell lines MDAMB231 (TNBC specific) was investigated in this work. In brief, we collected, authenticated and prepare aqueous extract of HCT and evaluated for its anticancer effects against TNBC. The extract was primarily analyzed for the presence/absence of various plant actives such as alkaloids, glycosides, etc. using reported protocols. Afterwards, the extract was analyzed using UV and FTIR for the confirmation. Further, the MTT assay was carried out to evaluate the dose dependent cell viability in MDAMB231 cells, which are specific to TNBC. In addition, we determined the hemocompatibility of the different concentration of the aqueous HCT extract using the standard protocols. Overall, these findings provide the basis for further investigation of HCT extracts against TNBC in vivo.