Formula made using TCM herbs exhibits anticancer effects against metastatic breast cancer

In this study, researchers from The Chinese University of Hong Kong evaluated the anti-tumor, bone-protective, and immunomodulatory effects of an herbal formula consisting of four herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) against metastatic breast cancer. The results of their study were published in the journal Chinese Medicine.

• The incidence and mortality of cancer metastasis is high. Despite the availability of chemotherapeutic agents, many cancer patients still use traditional Chinese herbal prescriptions as adjuvants.
• The efficacy of most of these herbal formulations, however, has not been proven by studies.
• The researchers used four Chinese herbal medicines — Andrographis paniculata, Acanthopanax senticosus, Camellia sinensis, and Hedyotis diffusa — to make an innovative herbal formula and tested its anticancer activities on a metastatic breast cancer mice model.
•  They reported that the formula reduced breast tumor weight and lung and liver metastasis in mice after four weeks of treatment.
• The formula also restored breast tumor-induced osteolysis in mice. The bone volume in the treated mice was comparable to that in non-tumor-bearing normal mice.
• They also found that the formula augmented the expression of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and prolonged the survival of mice with metastatic breast tumors.
• Furthermore, combining the herbal formula with doxorubicin, a chemotherapeutic agent, increased its efficacy and the life span of tumor-bearing mice. This combination was more effective as treatment than doxorubicin alone.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that their Chinese herbal formula possesses antitumor, anti-metastatic, and bone-protective activities against metastatic breast cancer. They hope that their preclinical data would lead to the use of TCM as adjuvant therapy to chemotherapeutic agents.

Read the full study at this link.

Journal Reference:

Yue GGL, Lee JKM, Chan BCL, Kwok HF, Hoi SWH, Sze DMY, Fung KP, Leung PC, Lau CBS. AN INNOVATIVE ANTI-CANCER CHINESE HERBAL FORMULA EXHIBITED MULTI-TARGETED EFFICACIES IN METASTATIC BREAST CANCER MOUSE MODEL. Chinese Medicine. 22 December 2018;13(1):64. DOI: 10.1186/s13020-018-0222-9