Hibiscus Sabdariffa Induces Cell Death in Oral Squamous Carcinoma Cells

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) accounts for 90% of all head and neck cancers. The main treatment modality for OSCC is surgery. Chemotherapy is also used but not without severe side effects. Hibiscus sabdariffa is a plant that is used extensively in certain parts of the world as a beverage. It has also been used traditionally for its medicinal properties, specifically as a potent antihypertensive agent. Recently, it has been shown that Hibiscus sabdariffa extracts can induce apoptosis in certain cancer cells. Objectives: To investigate the antiproliferative effects of an aqueous extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa on tumorigenic oral squamous cell carcinoma (CRL-1623) and triple negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-468). Methods: Varying doses (1 mg/ml to 8 mg/ml) of an aqueous extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa were used to treat tumorigenic oral squamous cell carcinoma, triple negative breast cancer cells or a non tumorigenic control cell line for 72 hours. Results: Our data showed significant cell death in a dose dependent manner in the tumorigenic cell lines. However, no significant cell death was observed in the non-tumorigenic cell line. At 8mg/ml concentration Hibiscus sabdariffa extracts caused approximately 90% and 70% cell death in CRL-1623 and MDA-MB-468 cells respectively. Conclusions: These results suggest that Hibiscus sabdariffa extracts possesses selective anticancer activities in oral and triple negative breast cancer cell lines.