Flowers of Woodfordia fruticosa exhibit in vitro cytotoxic effect on HEP-2 and SK-N-MC cancer cells

The SRB assay was used for screening the extracts of Woodfordia fruticosa for in vitro cytotoxicity against six human cancer cell lines viz., lung cancer cells (A-549, NCI-H23), colon cancer cells (COLO-205, SW-620), liver cancer cells (HEP-2) and neuroblastoma cancer cells (SK-N-MC). Results demonstrated that the ethanolic extract from the flowers of the plant showed in vitro cytotoxicity against two human cancer cell lines viz., HEP-2 and SK-N-MC. This extract did not exhibit any significant activity against other four human cancer cell lines. Surprisingly, the other two extracts (50% ethanolic and hot water) were observed to be inactive against all the human cancer cell lines.