Traditional Chinese medicine ″Anti‐cancer agent″ inhibits tumor growth in Sarcoma 180 mice via enhancing immune function

Abstract

The present study was to explore the anti‐tumor effect of "Anti‐cancer agent", a traditional Chinese herbal compound, on transplanted tumor Sarcoma 180 (S180) in mice and its underlying mechanism. The tumor‐inhibited experiment was carried out in vivo by rules of anti‐tumor therapeutics screening. The mice, which had been transplanted with S180, were given different doses (4, 8, 16 g/kg/d) of "Anti‐cancer agent" by gastric perfusion for 7 days, while cyclophosphamide (CTX) was given in the positive control group. The growth of tumor S180, weight of immune organ, body weight, tumor pathological changes were measured. We found that the growth of tumor S180 in mice was markedly inhibited by the "Anti‐cancer agent" in a dose‐dependent manner. The inhibitory rates of high, medium, and low dose "Anti‐cancer agent" for tumor S180 in mice were 35.36%, 51.95% and 44.45%, respectively. The "Anti‐cancer agent" significantly inhibited the atrophy of thymus and spleen in mice induced by tumor S180, and had no harmful effect on body weight and general health status in mice. The results indicate that the "Anti‐cancer agent" inhibited the growth of tumor in S180 mice, which may relate to reducing the atrophy of immune organ induced by S180.