Experimental Treatment of Prostate Cancer Models with Rh2, An Isolated Ginsenoside Compound

摘要

Ginseng is commonly used in herbal preparations for traditional Chinese medicine. Rh2, one of the ginsenosides, has been shown to suppress growth and induce apoptosis in a number of cancer cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. To evaluate the combined efficacy of Rh2 and two chemotherapeutic agents, paclitaxel and mitoxantrone, mice bearing the LNCaP or PC-3 prostate tumor xenograft were treated with corn oil (po) and saline (iv), Rh2 (5Omg/kg po daily), paclitaxel (6 mg/kg iv on day 1, 4, 15, and 18), mitoxantrone (2.5 mg/kg iv on day 1, 4, 15, and 18), Rh2 + paclitaxel and Rh2 + mitoxantrone. Tumor volumes were measured twice weekly for 4 weeks. Serum PSA were tested using ELISA for LNCaP models. Results showed 1) For the LNCaP models, student t-test was performed on the data acquired and results showed statistically significant differences exist between the tumor growth ratio of control group and Rh2+ paclitaxel treatment group (P<0.05) from day 9. No statistical significant differences existed between the control group and the Rh2, paclitaxel or mitoxantrone monotreatment groups. Paclitaxel monotherapy and paclitaxel + Rh2 combination showed significant (p