The authors suggest that the anticancer activity of the aqueous extract of saffron could be attributed partly to its inhibition of the cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis in cancer cells through caspase-dependent pathways activation. The potential of the ethanolic extract of saffron to induce cytotoxic and apoptosis effects in carcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cells (A549), a commonly used cell culture system for in vitro studies on lung cancer was evaluated.
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