Phytomedicine. 2003 Jan; 10(1): 53-8.

Ethanolic extracts of Euphorbia and other ethnobotanical species as inhibitors of human tumour cell growth.

Whelan LC, Ryan MF.

Department of Zoology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.

Ethanolic extracts of 20 plant species, selected from the ethnobotanical literature, were analysed for their pharmacological potential as antineoplastic agents against the HEp-2 cell line. Psoralea corylifolia and E. grandidens were the most efficacious species eliciting IC50 values of 22 microg/ml and 57 microg/ml respectively. Psoralea corylifolia, additionally tested against lung carcinoma (A549) cells gave an IC50 value of 68 microg/ml. Such data would justify a search for active compounds from this species.