Antiproliferative Evaluation of Dioscorea esculenta Tuber Extracts on Breast Cancer Cell Lines

Abstract

Breast cancer remains one of the most prevalent causes of cancer-related fatalities among women worldwide. Subtypes like MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 provide formidable obstacles to treatment. There has been a recent uptick in research into the potential anticancer benefits of naturally occurring compounds derived from plants. One species of yam, Dioscorea esculenta, is very medicinally promising due to its abundance of bioactive chemicals. The phytochemical profile and antiproliferative activity of D. esculenta on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines were evaluated. D. esculenta was extracted in both methanolic and aqueous forms using cold maceration. The extracts' antiproliferative effect on MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, and NIH-3T3 cell lines was evaluated using the MTT assay. The process of cell death in treated cancer cells was examined using flow cytometry. The results show that both extracts contain several phytochemicals, including tannins, phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and saponins. The antiproliferative effect on MDA-MB-231 was significantly highlighted by the D. esculenta methanolic extract (IC₅₀ 5.50 μg/mL). Flow cytometry showed that D. esculenta methanolic extract induced programmed cell death in MDA-MB-231 cells, which indicates that the plant extract contains promising anti-infective compounds, which could be responsible for the observed antiproliferative effects. In sum, the results indicate that D. esculenta shows promise as a cancer treatment option due to its ability to selectively target aggressive breast cancer cells while avoiding normal cells.