The cytotoxicity of methanolic and ethanolic extracts from the plant locally known as “Pansit-pansitan” [Peperomia pellucida (L.) HBK] on human cancer and normal cell lines was determined. Extracts were obtained by macerating fresh aerial parts of the plant with methanol and ethanol, followed by rotary evaporation. Extracts were dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and filter-sterilized. Cytotoxicity was tested on human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (HT-29), human monocytic leukemia cells (THP-1), and normal human fibroblast and liver cells (HDFn and THLE-3, respectively) using PrestoBlue® resazurin assay. Zeocin was used as positive control. Absolute quantification of transcript levels for the early apoptotic cfos and cjun marker genes was conducted using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Cytotoxicity tests showed that based on the guidelines of the US National Cancer Institute, both extracts were highly cytotoxic to the cancer cell lines, as evidenced by their half maximal cytotoxic concentration (IC₅₀) values below 20 μg mL^-1. These ranged from 7.374 to 12.112 μg mL^-1. On the other hand, the extracts were found to be nontoxic to the two normal cell lines HDFn and THLE-3, with IC50 of 55.629 μg mL-1 and 67.547 μg mL^-1, respectively, for the methanolic extract; and 52.188 μg mL^-1 and 63.483 μg mL^-1, respectively, for the ethanolic extract. Expression of the early apoptotic genes cjun and cfos was found to be upregulated in both HT-29 and THP-1 treated with IC₅₀ of the plant extracts. The results showed that the extracts have promising anticancer therapeutic potential, as suggested by the upregulation of the expression of the early apoptotic genes cjun and cfos in cancer cells, without being cytotoxic to normal cells.