RESUMEN
The present study aimed to investigate the chemopreventive effect of Camellia nitidissima flowers water extract (CNFE) on the Eca109 human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cell line. The antiproliferative effect on Eca109 cells was determined using the trypan blue exclusion assay. The effects of CNFE on apoptosis and cell cycle arrest were investigated by flow cytometry. CNFE inhibited cell growth in both a dose and timedependent manner in Eca109 cells. CNFE also caused dose and timedependent apoptosis of these cells. Treatment of cells with CNFE resulted in dosedependent G0/G1 phase arrest of the cell cycle. The data demonstrated that CNFE serves antiproliferative effects against human ESCC Eca109 cells by inducing apoptosis and interrupting the cell cycle. These results suggested that CNFE has the potential to be a chemoprotective agent for ESCC.