Background: Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death worldwide.  Despite extensive efforts, an ideal medicine has not been yet found for cancer treatment. Cinnamon contains strong anti-oxidative compounds. This study evaluated and compared the lethal effect of cinnamon extract on the A459 line lung cancer cells with cyclophosphamide. Methods: Cinnamon extract was prepared by soxhlet set. Then A459 cells were seeded and treated with 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 mg/ml concentrations of cinnamon and cyclophosphamide for 1, 3 and 5 days. Cell viability and morphology were evaluated on certain days after treatment. The expression of apoptotic genes including Bad, Bax and Bcl-2 was evaluated by qRT-PCR.
Results: Comparison of the cell viability percent in treated groups showed that lethal effect of cinnamon is equal to cyclophosphamide in 1 and 10 mg/ml concentrations on the 5th day but it was less than cyclophosphamide in other concentrations and days (p<0.05). Moreover, molecular findings showed that 1 and 10 mg/ml concentrations of cinnamon extract could up-regulate Bad and Bax genes expression and down regulate Bcl-2 gene expression (p<0.05). Conclusion: Cinnamon hydroalcoholic extract can induce apoptosis in A459 cells in a dose and time-dependent manner and be similar to cyclophosphamide with increasing concentration.