Cytotoxicity and antitumoral activity of dichloromethane extract and its fractions from Pothomorphe umbellata

The cytotoxicity of the dichloromethane crude extract (DCE), obtained from the aerial parts of Pothomorphe umbellata (L.) Miq (Piperaceae), was evaluated against nine human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, NCI-ADR/RES, OVCAR-3, PC-3, HT-29, NCI-H460, 786-O, UACC-62, K-562). The DCE presented antiproliferative activity with good potency against all cell lines at low concentrations (between 4.0 and 9.5 µg/mL) and with selectivity (1.55 µg/mL) for the leukemia cell line (K-652). DCE (100, 200, 300 and 400 mg/kg, ip) was also evaluated in the Ehrlich ascites tumor model. Both the survival number and th...