Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, despite many steps taken to reduce disease burden in past decades [
1]. Infection with HPV subtypes such as HPV 16, 18, 31, and 33 greatly increases the risk of cancer and plays a central role in the development of ~99.5 % of cervical cancers [
2]. The E6 and E7 oncoproteins have been shown to be main mediators of the development of HPV-induced cervical carcinoma [
3]. The cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis states that a tumor has a hierarchical cellular structure in which only a small subpopulation, referred to as cancer stem cells, is capable of tumorigenesis [
4]. CSCs possess stem cell-like properties of self-renewal and can differentiate into non-stem tumor cells. CSCs have been reported in multiple types of solid tumor and in cultured cancer cell lines, including brain, breast, colon prostate, and cervical cancer cell lines [
5]. CSCs have been identified and characterized in cervical cancer cell lines, but there are hardly any reports of CSCs in samples from patients with cervical cancer [
6]. ALDH, CD133, and Sox2 have been identified as the first putative CSC markers in human cervical carcinoma [
6]. A study demonstrated the use of CD44 and cytokeratin 17 cell surface markers to enrich a cervical CSC population [
3]. Further, another investigation revealed that an enriched cervical cancer cellular pool possesses tumorigenic capacity and expresses stemness-related genes (
Oct-3/4 and
Sox2) [
7]. Moreover, CSCs are responsible for cancer recurrence. Based on these reports, further cancer therapies might focus on the elimination of CSCs [
8]. Moreover, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a major cause of CSC progression and differentiation [
9]. Hence, development of innovative therapeutics is required. Herbal medicines have been used to treat various diseases since ancient times in many Asian countries. Herbal medicines are extracted from traditional Asian medical plants and have therapeutic activities against cancers, angiogenesis, and metastasis in the absence of observable in vivo side effects [
10]. Previously we reported that A1E, an extract formulated from 11 Asian traditional medicinal plants, consists of several compounds that target pathways such as the E6 and E7 pathway and mitochondrial intrinsic pathway. A1E inhibits E6 and E7 oncogenes and induces intrinsic apoptosis via p53/pRb dependent pathways and a mitochondria-mediated pathway [
11]. Furthermore, A1E induces apoptosis via activation of both extrinsic and intrinsic pathways and the inhibition of PI3K/Akt survival signaling pathways in lung cancer cells [
12]. Based on these data, we investigated whether A1E can regulate EMT, CSC self-renewal, and stemness-related gene expression in cervical cancer cells. Our data suggest that A1E can inhibit CSCs and reduce the expression of stemness markers. Treating CSCs with A1E may be a potential therapy for cervical cancer.