Objectives Traditional Unani medicine plays a major role in maintaining health in developing countries. For ages, Unani physicians have described many Classical Unani Formulations (CUF) for their anti-cancerous action (Dāfiʻ-i-saraṭān) in the human population. These formulations contain various individual drugs which also have anticancer activity. The present study was designed to screen and compare cytotoxic and antioxidant properties of different extracts of Agaricus albus L. (A. albus), a drug used in the Unani system of medicine on human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7). Methods Cytotoxic effect was assessed using MTT assay kit and free radical scavenging activity was done by using DPPH assay. Aqueous, hydro-ethanol and methanolic extracts were used at different concentrations. Results All extracts were shown good antioxidant and cytotoxic activity. Among all extracts, maximum cytotoxic effect was observed in methanolic extract and aqueous extract at the concentration of 1,000 μg against MCF-7 cell line in comparison to paclitaxel. The maximum antioxidant activity was observed in the hydroethanolic extract at the concentration of 1,000 μg against the MCF-7 cell line in comparison to ascorbic acid. Conclusions The present study advocates, the anticancer and antioxidant property of A. albus and suggests that this drug may be used as a potential drug for cancer treatment after a successful and detailed preclinical study and clinical trial.

Objectives To analyze the phytochemicals, antioxidant, and anticancer activities on MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line using aqueous, hydro-ethanol, and methanol extracts of different Unani drugs, e.g., Halela Siyah, Aftimoon, Bisfayej, Ustukhudoos, and Kutki. Methods The qualitative examination (alkaloids, terpenoids, tannins, and saponins), anticancer activity, and an antioxidant assay of the three different extracts were done by MTT assay and DPPH assay, respectively, using different Unani drugs. Results The qualitative examination confirmed the substantive presence of phytochemical constituents in all the extracts of these drugs. The Methanolic extract of Halela Siyah had the highest DPPH scavenging activity (91%), while Bisfayej had the lowest (58%). Similarly, the hydro-ethanolic extract showed approximately identical activity for Halela Siyah (89%), Aftimoon (88%), Bisfayej (84%), Kutki (82%), and Ustukhudoos (81%). The aqueous extracts of Halela Siyah (88%) had the highest DPPH scavenging activity, whereas Bisfayej (73%) had the lowest. The methanolic extract of Aftimoon demonstrated the greatest anticancer activity (IC50 – 108), while Aftimoon showed the least activity (IC50 – 316). Halela Siyah (IC50 – 175) and Aftimoon (IC50 – 178) showed substantially the same activity in aqueous extracts. Ustukhudoos hydro-ethanol extracts had the highest (IC50 – 130) activity, whereas Aftimoon had the lowest (IC50 – 204). Conclusions In conclusion, our findings evaluated the presence of phytochemicals, good antioxidant activity, and anticancer activity in different extracts of drugs used in this study. The study shows these drugs have potential anticancer activity against breast cancer in MCF-7 cell lines.