Seco acids 7 and 9 and hydroxylated analogues 5 and 6 derived from friedelane triterpenes were synthesized stereoselectively in high yields. Compounds 5-9 were evaluated for their ability to inhibit in vitro the growth of three human tumor cell lines, MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), NCI-H460 (non-small cell lung cancer), and SF-268 (CNS cancer). Only compounds 7 and 9 were found to possess significant growth inhibitory effects, exhibiting GI(50) values that range from 24.6 to 32.8 microM and 10.9 to 17.6 microM, respectively.