Antitumor effect of traditional Chinese herbal medicines against lung cancer

Abstract

Traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCHM) is used widely alone or in combination with chemotherapy to treat lung cancer in China. Meta-analysis of clinical trials of TCHM against lung cancer suggested the potential, but not confirmed therapeutic effect. To gain detailed insight into the antilung cancer effects of TCHM, we searched for preclinical studies of TCHM against lung cancer published from 1995 to 2012 and systematically analyzed published articles focusing on the antitumor effect of individual TCHM in lung cancer cell lines or animal models. Among 93 herbal components isolated from 73 Chinese herbs, we found 10 herbal compounds that showed the strongest cytotoxicity in lung cancer cell lines through apoptosis or cell cycle arrest, and agents isolated from seven Chinese herbs that inhibited the primary tumor growth more than 35% in A549 xenografted mice models. In addition, three herbal components suppressed lung cancer cell migration in vitro at the concentration without cytotoxicity. Polyphyllin I, tanshinone IIA, isochaihulactone, 25-OCH3-PPD, and andrographolide were the five TCHM compounds that showed strong antilung cancer effects both in cells and in animal models, and studies of their analogs showed their structure-activity relationships. This review summarizes and analyzes contemporary studies on the antitumor effect of individual TCHM against lung cancer and animal models, providing perspectives to better understand the TCHM effect in lung cancer treatment and develop new antilung cancer drugs from TCHM.

Tanshinones from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge revert chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain and reduce glioblastoma cells malignancy

“…These observations have been summarized also by analyzing the IC 50 values shown in Table 3, where both TIIA and CRY present higher IC 50 values on human colon adenocarcinoma cells Caco-2 than on LN-229 and U-87 MG glioblastoma cancer cell lines. Our results are in accordance with related studies that have indicated a role of tanshinones in the inhibition of cancer growth by induction of apoptosis [49,50]. Thus, it was reasonable to speculate if tanshinones would play an important role in the inhibition of glioblastoma cell lines.…”

Tanshinone IIA induces TRAIL sensitization of human lung cancer cells through selective ER stress induction

“…Based on our previous report, decursin has also similar functions, such as induction of selective ER stress via ROS generation and TRAIL sensitivity in lung cancer cells (18). Recent report indicated that Tanshinone IIA induces considerable amount of ROS formation in A549, but not H596 cells, which lack the NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) (48). Consistently, we also detected ER stress response signals in Tanshinone IIA-treated A549 cells, but not in H596 (data not shown), indicating that ER stress induction by Tanshinone IIA may be mediated by ROS generation.…”

Calotropis gigantea extract induces apoptosis through extrinsic/intrinsic pathways and upregulation of reactive oxygen species in non-small-cell lung cancer cells

“…Several studies have been reported on the effects of plant extracts inhibiting tumor growth, metastasis, and angiogenesis [18]. This study was aimed to determine whether CG could induce cytotoxicity, examined in A549 and NCI-H1299 cells following treatment with various concentrations (up to 15 μg/ml for 24 and 48 h) of CG.…”