Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is known as an uncommon type of breast cancer, but it seems to be the most aggressive among the subtypes that have been classified so far. Furthermore, the major obstacle in breast cancer therapeutic strategies is metastasis, which is the leading causes of patients’ deaths. Over the last few decades, multiple studies revealed the anticancer activity of Annona muricata L., known as Graviola, against various types of cancers, however, no study has analyzed its in-depth mechanism on the TNBC model so far. The present study investigated possible effects of aqueous extract of Graviola, on breast cancer in vitro, specifically focused on searching for the candidate against TNBC. In this study, we selected the TNBC MDA-MB-231 cell line as the main test model and the ER(+) MCF-7 breast cancer cell line as the control. Cell viability significantly decreased in both cells within 48-hour treatment with Graviola leaf extract, whereas impaired cell migration and invasion could be only found in MDA-MB-231. Graviola also triggered the intrinsic apoptotic pathway in MDA-MB-231 cells, which are different from the known mechanism of ER-dependent apoptosis in MCF-7 [1].
[1] Ko YM, Wu TY, Wu YC, Chang FR, Guh JY, Chuang LY. Journal of Ethnopharmacol 2011; 137: 1283‒1290