The Evaluation of Anticancer Properties of Marchantia paleacea Extracts

Abstract

Cancer is a major burden in the healthcare system, as the leading disease in terms of DALYs (Disability-Adjusted Life Years) afflicted to the patient, and second in terms of mortality rate. Until this day, there is still no permanent universal cure for cancer, with current treatments either capable of afflicting adverse side effects to the patient, or relying on several different mechanisms susceptible to alterations by the cancer cell or its surrounding environment. Alternative compounds would need to be screened to find potentially effective anticancer agents. Phytochemicals have a great potential for anticancer properties, as shown by the presence of plant-based cancer drugs already used in the market. Being one of the 17 megadiverse countries, Indonesia possesses an abundance in potential plants to screen for possible anticancer phytochemicals. Marchantia paleacea, a type of liverwort present in Indonesia, would possibly be one of these anticancer compounds due to the presence of compound families previously already exerting anticancer properties. To evaluate whether or not M. paleacea extracts possess anticancer capabilities, M.paleacea were extracted through an ethanol-based maceration method, then MTT and colony forming assays were performed. Even though the experiment conditions were not optimal, the M. paleacea extract did not exert any cytotoxic effects on the normal (HaCaT) and cancerous (HT-29) cell lines, in contrast with the positive control 5-FU.