Among all cancers, lung cancer is the one with the highest mortality rate, and it also has limited therapeutics. Antitumor agents based on medicinal plants have gained importance as a source of bioactive substances. Tagetes erecta is a plant of great cultural value, and recent reports have suggested its cytotoxic effects in tumor cells. Our objective was to evaluate the antitumor activity of Tagetes erecta extract in a lung carcinoma model. Hydroalcoholic extracts were obtained from fresh flowers and leaves of T. erecta; both extracts did not exert toxicity on Artemia salina. We observed cytotoxic effects induced by the floral extract in Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) and breast tumor cell line (MCF7), but not by the leaf extract. In vivo, a xenograft lung carcinoma model was performed with LLC cells implanted on C57BL/6 mice, which showed that the floral extract reduced tumor growth and improved the effect of etoposide. Microscopic analysis of tumors showed a reduction in mitoses and an increase in necrotic areas with the extract and the etoposide. The main phytochemical compounds found are 2,3-dihydro-benzofuran, octadecanoic acid, benzenacetic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and acetic acid. We conclude that the hydroalcoholic extract of T. erecta flowers has cytotoxic effects in lung carcinoma cells and enhances the effect of etoposide.
Keywords: Tagetes erecta; cancer; cytotoxicity; lung cancer; plant extract.