Santolina corsica Jord. & Fourr. extracts exert pro-apoptotic activity and inhibit breast adenocarcinoma cell (MDA-MB-231) migration.

The anticancer properties of Santolina corsica Jord. & Fourr. n-hexane (EHS) and methanol (EMS) extracts were herein evaluated, in relation to their chemical profile. EHS and EMS were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection, respectively. Quercetin-like molecules were the dominant EMS constituents, while EHS showed high concentrations of sesquiterpenes and fatty acid esters. The anti-proliferative activity of those extracts was evaluated on a wide panel of cancer cell lines. Interestingly, anti-proliferative activities of both extracts were found to be very specific for cancer cells, since their IC50 values measured on a non-tumorigenic breast epithelial cell line (MCF 10A) were remarkably higher than those found for all the tested cancer cell lines. Moreover, our results proved that they were able to activate the extrinsic apoptosis pathway, reducing motility, as well as invasive and migratory potential of MDA-MB-231 cells, so counteracting their metastatic behaviour. Concluding, EHS and EMS might be taken into account for potential therapeutic applications in cancer treatment.