In vivo anticancer activity of benzoxazine and aminomethyl compounds derived from eugenol

BACKGROUND: Indonesia is the world’s primary producer of clove. In order to find new utilization for clove and new biologically active compounds, eugenol, the main constituent of clove, has been converted to its derivatives. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine in vivo anticancer activity of benzoxazine and aminomethyl compounds derived from eugenol. METHODS: Fibrosarcoma was induced by injection of benzo(a)pyrene solution. The test compounds were given per oral at 20, 40, and 80 mg/Kg body weight, once a day for 30 days. RESULTS: As a result, all the tested compounds showed activity in reducing the cancer incidence rate. All the tested compounds were also found to reduce tumor weight. Benzoxazine derivatives gave slightly better activity compared to aminomethyl derivatives. The strongest activity was exhibited by 6-allyl-3-(furan-2- ylmethyl)-8-methoxy-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo(e)(1,3)oxazine. CONCLUSIONS: All four benzoxazine and aminomethyl compounds derived from eugenol that were tested exhibited anticancer activity in mice fibrosarcoma.