Asian Pacifc Journal of Cancer Prevention, Vol 16, 2015 6047 DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7314/APJCP.2015.16.14.6047 Strobilanthes crispus Anti-Cancer Effects on HCC Cells Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 16 (14), 6047-6053 Introduction Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequent carcinomas worldwide that is on the rise (Abdelaziz et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2014; Singh et al., 2014). It accounts for 80–90% of liver cancers caused by the uncontrolled proliferation of hepatocytes. The etiology of HCC is multifactorial including liver cirrhosis (60–80% of HCCs), infection by hepatitis B and C viruses, primary hemochromatosis and the prolonged exposure to mycotoxins such as afatoxin B1. The multi- step hepatocarcinogenetic process of HCC contains infammation, cell death, cirrhosis, regeneration, DNA damage and dysplasia, which finally result in HCC (Pitot, 1998; Thorgeirsson et al., 1998; Tannapfel and Wittekind, 2002; Hamilton and Aaltonen, 2004). Most causes of HCC are viral hepatitis infections including hepatitis B and C as well as hepatic cirrhosis commonly due to alcoholism (Kumar et al., 2003). Liver cancer is the second most common cancer in Southeast Asian nations and the second leading cause of cancer death. The respective incidence and mortality rates per 100,000 are 5.7 and 5.4 in Malaysia (Kimman et al., 2012). In 1 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2 Institute of Gerontology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 3 Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia *For correspondence: asmah@upm.edu.my Abstract Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Its prevalence is increasing in many countries. Plant products can be used to protect against cancer due to natural anticancer and chemopreventive constituents. Strobilanthes crispus is one of plants with potential chemopreventive ability. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the anticancer effects of Strobilanthes crispus juice on hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Materials and Methods: MTT assays, fow cytometry, comet assays and the reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to determine the effects of juice on DNA damage and cancer cell numbers. Results: This juice induced apoptosis after exposure of the HepG2 cell line for 72 h. High percentages of apoptotic cell death and DNA damage were seen at the juice concentrations above 0.1%. It was found that the juice was not toxic for normal cells. In addition, juice exposure increased the expression level of c-myc gene and reduced the expression level of c-fos and c-erbB2 genes in HepG2 cells. The cytotoxic effects of juice on abnormal cells were in dose dependent. Conclusions: It was concluded that the Strobilanthes crispus juice may have chemopreventive effects on hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Keywords: Apoptosis - DNA damage - gene expression - hepatocellular carcinoma - Strobilanthes crispus juice RESEARCH ARTICLE Strobilanthes crispus Juice Concentrations and Anticancer Effects on DNA Damage, Apoptosis and Gene Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells Faridah Hussin 1 , Sima Ataollahi Eshkoor 2 , Asmah Rahmat 1 *, Fauziah Othman 1 , Abdah Akim 1 , Zolkapli Eshak 3 Peninsular Malaysia, liver cancer ranked 6th overall, 5 th in males and 9th in females (Omar et al., 2006). About two-thirds of cancers can be prevented through lifestyle modifcations (Oliveria, 1997) and using herbal medicines, which is increasing along other alternative medications (Eisenberg et al., 1998). It has been demonstrated that herbal medicine can be used to prevent and treat diseases (Firenzuoli and Gori, 2007) like cancers due to natural anticancer and chemopreventive constituents (Kaur et al., 2009). Such products range from traditional and popular medicines to the use of standardized and titrated herbal extracts (Firenzuoli and Gori, 2007). Malaysia is rich in herbal resources. One of these herbal medicines is Strobilanthes crispus, which has chemopreventive potential ability. It is a native plant growing in many countries such as Madagascar, Indonesia and Malaysia (Sunarto, 1997). This plant has protective effects against cancers such as breast and colorectal cancers (Awad et al., 2000; Awad and Fink, 2000), which can be due to the effects of plant compounds on the regulation of genes (Chong et al., 2012) such as c-myc, c-fos and c-erbB2 (Volm et al., 1992). C-myc gene biologically promotes cell cycle proliferation (Amati