American Ginseng in the Prevention and Treatment of Human Breast Cancer

摘要

The effect of ginseng on the prevention and treatment of breast cancer has not been studied. This research project was designed to examine the effects of American ginseng on breast cancer using well-established in vitro and in vivo experimental models. It is our hypothesis that ginseng, and its ginsenosides, in particular, would inhibit the proliferation and growth of human breast cancer cells. Our results have shown that an extract of American ginseng (GE) in habited MCF-7 and MDA-MB-23l cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, GE in the drinking water of female nude mice significantly decreased human breast cancer tumor growth. We have identified several different ginsenosides in ginseng extract and determined that only ginsenosides Rc and Rh2 potently inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation in vitro. More recently, we have shown that a combination of Rc and Rh2 in the drinking water (5O micronm ginsenoside) of nude mice significantly reduced MCF-7 tumor growth relative to untreated controls. These findings are the first to suggest that these ginsenosides may be responsible for the anti- proliferative actions of ginseng extract on human breast cancer cell proliferation. Further data suggests that the various ginsenosides may have very different mechanisms of action to cumulatively inhibit breast cancer growth.