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This is the way alternative treatments need to be tested - starting in the lab. I am sure many alternative treatments have an effect. We need to find the ones that help, and find the best ways to use them - this moves them from the "alternative" realm to the "mainstream" realm!
Anticancer Res. 2012 Jul;32(7):2689-96.
Effects of Zeng Sheng Ping/ACAPHA on malignant brain tumor growth and Notch signaling.
Lim KJ, Rajan K, Eberhart CG.
Source
Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Ave, Ross Building 558, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM:
Zeng Sheng Ping (ZSP) is a traditional herbal remedy used to prevent progression and growth of neoplastic lesions. It has been shown to inhibit Notch2 expression in a murine lung cancer model, leading us to investigate its therapeutic potential in Notch-dependent brain tumors.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium (MTS), apoptosis, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses were performed in glioma and medulloblastoma cell lines, and morphological analyses in DAOY flank xenografts.
RESULTS:
ZSP inhibited brain tumor growth in vitro, in part, by apoptotic induction. Down-regulation of the Notch2 receptor, the pathway target Hairy/Enhancer of Split homolog 1 (Hes1), and of the stem cell markers Nestin and CD133 was also observed. Reductions in tumor mass and increases in the necrotic fraction of DAOY xenografts, in mice treated with oral ZSP were also observed, but these were not significant.
CONCLUSION:
ZSP can block brain tumor growth and the expression of Notch pathway members and stem cell markers in vitro.
PMID: 22753727 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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