Evaluation of anticancer activity against breast cancer cells of macroalgae extracts collected from Eastern Indonesia

Marine algae have been considered a source of bioactive compounds widely used as healthy food and herbal medicine. One of the killer diseases is cancer, especially for the woman. Breast cancer was the top of cases in Indonesia. Concerning this issue, the objective of this study was to evaluate the 16 specimens of macroalgae collected from Tual and Maluku against breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231. This study showed that seven specimens were active against MDA-MB-231: Caulerpa racemosa, Laurencia intricate, Galaxaura rugosa, Sargassum sp., and Chaetomorpha crassa, Hypnea sp., and Turbinaria ornata. Among the screening specimens, T. ornata, Hypnea sp., and C. crassa were potential with the IC50 values 91.953, 59.635 and 32.667 µg/ml, respectively. The others showed IC50 values more than 100 µg/ml. However, the activity of T. ornata was weak, but the yield of ethanolic extract was the highest (8.95%) among all specimens. Further analysis about the substance derived from the active extract should be done to get the comprehended data.