Table 4.

Anticancer properties of the medicinal plants cited in the study area.

Plant species	Used parts	Used extracts	Experimental model	Key results	References
Allium cepa L.	Bulbes	Ethanol, methanol, aqueous extracts	HepG2 human liver cancer cell lines HeLa cervical cancer cell line	Exhibited significant antigenotoxic activity in HepG2 cells decreased the levels of intracellular ROS at 1–100 μg/mL concentrations. Showed anticancer effect on HeLa cells (IC50 = 4.8 μM)	[66, 67]
Allium sativum L.	Bulbes	Ethanol	Breast (MDAMB231), prostate (PC3), colon (HCT-15), hepatic cancer (Hep3B) cell lines	IC50 (MDAMB231) = 5.748 mg/mL IC50(PC3) = 3.333 mg/mL IC50(HCT-15) = 3.746 mg/mL IC50(Hep3B) = 3.301 mg/mL	[65]
Ammodaucus leucotrichus coss.	Aerial parts	Essential oil	HCT116 colon cancer cell line HePG2 (human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line	IC50 = 72.6 μg/mL and 110.6 μg/mL, respectively	[64]
Pimpinella anisum L.	Seeds	Alcoholic extracts and essential oil	Gastric cancer cell line	IC50 = 30 µg/mL	[68]
Nerium oleander L.	Flowers	Essential oil	Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells (EAC)	Inhibited significantly the growth of EAC cells	[60]
Aristolochia longa L.	Roots	Aqueous extract	Burkitt's lymphoma BL41 cells	Induced cell death in a dose-dependent manner triggered cell apoptosis, associated with a loss of mitochondrial membrane integrity and the upregulation of caspases-9 and -3 followed by PARP cleavage	[69]
Artemisia herba-alba Asso	Aerial parts	Essential oil	P815 murin mastocytoma and BSR kidney adenocarcinoma of hamster cell lines	Exhibited significant cytotoxic effect	[70]
Chamaemelum nobile (L.) All.	Aerial part	Aqueous extract	MCF7	IC50 = 168.40 μg/mL	[71]
Dittrichia viscosa (L.) Greuter	Aerial part	Ethanol extract	Human breast cancer (estrogen receptor-negative; MDA-MB-231) and prostate cancer (PC3) cell lines	Significantly suppressed cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis in all the studied cell lines	[72]
Saussurea costus (Falc.) Lipsch.	Roots	Hexane extract	Human colon (HCT116) cells	IC50 of 20.07 ± 7.25 μg/mL	[62]
Berberis hispanica Boiss. & Reut	Roots	Methanol extracts	Breast MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cell lines	Exhibited significant antiproliferative potential with IC50 values of 6.55 ± 0.58 and 17.95 ± 0.58 µg/mL respectively	[63]
Lepidium sativum L.	Leaves	Aqueous extract	Cellosaurus CAL-27 cell lines	Induced noticeable damage to DNA, and up-regulated the levels of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to apoptosis (up to 30% and 60%)	[73]
Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.	Fruit	Ethanol extract	PC3 and MCF7	IC50 values of 5775.7 and 6311.3 μg/ml, respectively	[74]
Capparis spinosa L.	Leaves	Ethanolic extract	Ehrlich ascites carcinoma in Swiss albino mice	Induced apoptosis through the activation of caspase 3 and BCL2 proteins	[75]
Corrigiola telephiifolia Pourr	Roots	Dichloromethane extract	Murine colon adenocarcinoma (CT-26) cells	IC50 = 80 ± 4.56	[61]
Chenopodium ambrosioides L.	Leaves	EO	Liver cancer SMMC-7721 cells	Inhibited cell proliferation, and cell cycle division at Go/G1 phase. Caused caspase-dependent apoptosis	[76]
Juniperus phoenicea L.	Aerial parts	Chloroform fraction	MCF-7 cancer cell	Suppressed cell proliferation, induced cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase, and cell apoptosis	[77]
Ephedra alata Decne	Aerial parts	Methanol extract	4T1 breast cancer cells	Inhibited cell growth and migration in a dose and time-dependent manner and triggered apoptosis, reduced ROS production, and induced caspases activation	[78]
Euphorbia resinifera O. Berg	Aerial parts	Hexane extract	Rhabdomyosarcoma cancerous, kidney adenocarcinoma of hamster and monkey kidney cancerous cell lines	IC50 values between 50.7 ± 4,89 and 266.43 ± 10.20 µg/mL	[79]
Ceratonia siliqua L.	Seeds	Ethanol extract	Human glioblastoma cancer cells	Decreased cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner	[80]
Glycyrrhiza glabra L.	Roots	Methanol extract	Carcinoma (Caco-2) and prostate carcinoma (PC-3) cell lines	IC50 values ranged between 40 and 40.6 μg/ml	[81]
Retama monosperma (L.) Boiss.	Leaves	n-Hexane extract	Jurkat cells	Promoted cell cycle arrest and triggered extrinsic pathway-dependent apoptosis	[82]
Trigonella foenum-graecum L.	Seeds	Ethanol extract	HepG2 cells	Showed antiangiogenic activity, inducing cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase after 12 and 48 h of treatment and remarkable arrest at the G1/S phase after 24 h of treatment	[83]
Crocus sativus L.	Flowers	Ethanol extract	Breast cancer cells MCF-7	Caspase activation and increased expression of Bax protein lead to cell apoptosis	[84]
Lavandula dentata L.	Aerial parts	Dichloromethane extract	Erlish cell line	Showed interesting antitumor activity at a concentration of 300 µl/ml	[85]
Marrubium vulgare L.	Aerial parts	Methanol extract	Jurkat cells	IC50 > 50 μg/mL	[86]
Origanum compactum Benth.	Aerial parts	Ethyl acetate extract	MCF-7 cells	IC50 = 279.51 ± 16 µg/mL	[87]
Rosmarinus officinalis L.	Aerial parts	EO	Rhabdomyosarcoma cells	IC50 = 113.42 ± 4.6 µg/mL	[88]
Salvia officinalis L.	Aerial parts	EO	MCF7, LNCaP, and HeLa cells	Reduced cell viability after a 48-hour incubation at concentrations of 100 and 200 μg/mL	[89]
Linum usitatissimum L.	Seeds	Methanol extract and ethyl acetate fraction	HepG2 and MCF7 cells	IC50 = 60 ± 0.24 μg/ml (HepG2) IC50 = 29.4 ± 0.12 μg/ml (MCF7) IC50 = 94.7 ± 0.21 μg/ml IC50 = 227 ± 0.48 μg/ml, respectively	[90]
Cinnamomum camphora (L.) J. Presl	ND	ND	Cervical carcinoma HeLa cells	Pinoresinol inhibited significantly cell growth and proliferation	[91]
Ficus carica L.	Latex	ND	MDA-MB-231 cells	Exhibited promising antimetastatic effects through ERK2, CREB, and AKT2 signaling pathways. Showed genotoxic and cytotoxic effects in MDA-MB-231 cells	[92]
Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels	Fruits	Methanol n-butanol extracts	HTC hepatoma cell lines	Significant antiproliferative effect inhibition of ERK1/2 activation was also associated with decreased DNA synthesis	[93]
Urtica dioica L.	Roots	Methanolic extract	Balb/c mouse model of benign prostatic hyperplasia	Oral treatment at a dose of 5 mg for 28 days reduced hyperplasia with 51.4% growth inhibition	[94]
Zingiber officinale Roscoe	Roots	EO	Swiss albino mice	Significantly reduced the volume of solid tumor development by 54.4% At a concentration of 500 mg/kg body weight	[95]

EO, essential oil.