השפעת צמחי מרפא על מערכת החיסון בחולי סרטן

Effect of Chinese Herbal Therapy on

Breast Cancer Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines

Y MAIMON 1,2, V KARUSH3, N YAAL-HAHOSHEN3, R BEN-YOSEF3, I RON3, A VEXLER3

AND S LEV-ARI1,3

1 Unit of Integrative Medicine, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre, Tel Aviv, Israel;

2 Refuot Medical Centre, Ramat Aviv, Israel;

3 Department of Oncology, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre affiliated with The Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel

ABSTRACT

Despite the widespread use of medicinal herbs to prevent and treat many diseases,

including cancer, there are insufficient scientific data on the safety and efficacy of

the majority of herbal therapies. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a

unique Chinese herbal therapy (CHT) from controlled manufactured

concentrated powders, on an in vitro model of breast cancer. Three breast

adenocarcinoma cell lines (MDA-231, MDA-453, T47D) were exposed to CHT for

72 h. Cell viability was assessed by XTT (sodium 3′-[1-(phenylaminocarbonyl)-3,

4-tetra zolium]-bis(4-methoxy-6-nitro) benzene sulphonic acid hydrate) assay.

Apoptosis and cell cycle stage were determined by fluorescence-activated cell

sorting (FACS) analysis. CHT decreased cell survival in a dose-dependent manner

in all tested cell lines. FACS analysis of treated and non-treated T47D cells

demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of CHT was associated with an increase in

apoptosis. A randomized clinical trial is currently underway to investigate CHT as

supplementary therapy for breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

The Journal of International Medical Research 2010; 38: 2033-2039