Antitumor effect of baicalin from the Scutellaria baicalensis radix extract in B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia with different chromosomal rearrangements

•Baicalin exhibits potent anti-cancer activities against B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia.•Baicalin reduces proliferation of cell lines and activates the intrinsic apoptotic pathway.•Baicalin inhibits the glycogen synthase kinase 3β and induces cell cycle arrest through the up-regulation of p27Kip1.•Chromosomal translocations in leukemic cell lines impact the response to baicalin treatment.•The most sensitive to baicalin were cell lines with MLL and PBX1 gene rearrangements.