Abstract Background: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignant tumors which
remains a rampant killer across the globe. Lack of early diagnosis and toxic drugs have failed to
improve the survival rate of pancreatic cancer patients, thus new agents that are safe, available
and effective are urgently needed.
Objective: The study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Agarwood essential oils in the inhibition
of metastasis and induction of apoptosis in the pancreatic cell line (MIA PaCa-2).
Methods: Essential oils of Aquilaria crassna were obtained by hydrodistillation. Chemical characterization
was analyzed using FTIR and GCMS. The effects of essential oils against three steps of
metastases have been investigated, including cell proliferation, migration and clonogenicity.
Hoechst and rhodamine assays confirmed the mechanism of pancreatic cancer cell death.
Results: The results showed that essential oils exhibited potent cytotoxic activity against
MIA PaCa-2 cells with an IC50 (11 ± 2.18 lg/ml). Cell migration was effectively inhibited at
(10 lg/ml). Moreover, at a sub-toxic dose (5 lg/mL), essential oils obstructed the colony formation
properties of MIA PaCa-2 significantly. The mechanism of cell death was determined due to the