US National Cancer Institute–China Collaborative Studies on Chinese Medicine and Cancer (original) (raw)
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Journal of Global Oncology, 2016
On November 3, 2014, in Bethesda, MD, the Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the National Cancer Institute held a meeting to examine the potential utility and feasibility of establishing an international consortium for Chinese medicine and cancer. There is significant interest in the West in using components of Chinese medicine (CM) —such as botanicals and herbal medicines, acupuncture and acupressure, and qigong—in the field of oncology, as potential anticancer agents, for symptom management, and to improve quality of life. The proposal for a consortium on CM came from the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, with the aims of improving scientific communications and collaborations and modernizing the studies of CM for cancer. The US National Cancer Institute’s Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine agreed to work with Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences to explore the feasibility of establishing an international consortium for...
From traditional Chinese medicine to rational cancer therapy
Trends in Molecular Medicine, 2007
Many natural products and derivatives thereof belong to the standard repertoire of cancer chemotherapy. Examples are Vinca alkaloids, taxanes and camptothecins. In recent years, the potential of natural products from plants, notably from medicinal plants used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been recognized by the scientific community in the Western world. To provide an example of the most recent developments in this field, we have selected several compounds, namely artesunate, homoharringtonine, arsenic trioxide and cantharidin, that are found in natural TCM products and that have the potential for use in cancer therapy. Controlled clinical studies have shown that homoharringtonine and arsenic trioxide can exert profound activity against leukaemia. Increased knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of TCM-derived drugs and recent developments in their applications demonstrate that the combination of TCM with modern cutting-edge technologies provides an attractive strategy for the development of novel and improved cancer therapeutics.
US NCI-China Collaborative Studies
Journal of the National Cancer Institute , 2017
Since 2007, the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM), together with the Cancer Institute of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (CICACMS), institutes at China Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, have engaged in collaborations on Chinese medicine (CM) and cancer research. Through these collaborations, CM drugs and compounds have been studied at NCI labs. This paper summarizes the discoveries and progress on these research projects, exploring the aspects of cancer prevention, botanical drug mechanisms of action and component analysis/quality control (QC), and anticancer activity screening. These and other related projects have been presented in various jointly convened workshops and have provided the backdrop for establishing a new organization, the International Consortium for CM and Cancer, to promote international collaborations in this field.
Advances in Synergistic Combinations of Chinese Herbal Medicine for the Treatment of Cancer
Current Cancer Drug Targets, 2016
The complex pathology of cancer development requires correspondingly complex treatments. The traditional application of individual single-target drugs fails to sufficiently treat cancer with durable therapeutic effects and tolerable adverse events. Therefore, synergistic combinations of drugs represent a promising way to enhance efficacy, overcome toxicity and optimize safety. Chinese Herbal Medicines (CHMs) have long been used as such synergistic combinations. Therefore, we summarized the synergistic combinations of CHMs used in the treatment of cancer and their roles in chemotherapy in terms of enhancing efficacy, reducing side effects, immune modulation, as well as abrogating drug resistance. Our conclusions support the development of further science-based holistic modalities for cancer care.
Fitoterapia, 2019
Botanical-based natural products are an important resource for medicinal drug discovery and continue to provide diverse pharmacophores with therapeutic potential against cancer and other human diseases. A prototype Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) plant extract library has been established at the US National Cancer Institute, which contains both the organic and aqueous extracts of 132 authenticated medicinal plant species that collectively represent the potential therapeutic contents of most commonly used TCM herbal prescriptions. This library is publicly available in 96-and 384-well plates for high throughput screening across a broad array of biological targets, as well as in larger quantities for isolation of active chemical ingredients. Herein, we present the methodology used to generate the library and the preliminary assessment of the anti-proliferative activity of this crude extract library in NCI-60 human cancer cell lines screen. Particularly, we report the chemical profiling and metabolome comparison analysis of four commonly used TCM plants, namely Brucea javanica, Dioscorea nipponica, Cynanchum atratum, and Salvia miltiorrhiza. Bioassayguided isolation resulted in the identification of the active compounds, and different extraction methods were compared for their abilities to extract cytotoxic compounds and to concentrate biologically active natural products.
Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, 2008
The cure from cancer is still not a reality for all patients, which is mainly due to the limitations of chemotherapy (e.g., drug resistance and toxicity). Apart from the highthroughput screening of synthetic chemical libraries, natural products represent attractive alternatives for drug development. We have done a systematic bioactivitybased screening of natural products derived from medicinal plants used in traditional Chinese medicine. Plant extracts with growth-inhibitory activity against tumor cells have been fractionated by chromatographic techniques. We have isolated the bioactive compounds and elucidated the chemical structures by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. By this strategy, we identified 25-O-acetyl-23,24-dihydro-cucurbitacin F as a cytotoxic constituent of Quisqualis indica. Another promising compound identified by this approach was miltirone from Salvia miltiorrhiza. The IC 50 values for miltirone of 60 National Cancer Institute cell lines were associated with the microarray-based expression of 9,706 genes. By COMPARE and hierarchical cluster analyses, candidate genes were identified, which significantly predicted sensitivity or resistance of cell lines to miltirone. [Mol Cancer Ther
A tremendous interest exists in the Western world in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with rapidly increasing export rates of TCM products from China to Europe and USA. This led to a national decision of the Chinese government to implement a “Plan for the Modernization of Chinese Medicine”. Concerning the use of Chinese medicinal herbs, two major directions can be distinguished. One field is phytochemistry and pharmacognosy. Secondary metabolites isolated from Chinese plants can be easily subjected to pharmacological, molecular biological, and pharmacogenomic analyses using methods of modern cell and molecular biology as exemplified for camptothecin from Camptotheca acuminata in the present review. The second field of interest is phytomedicine. Standardized international quality guidelines help to improve quality, safety and efficacy of Chinese medicinal herbs. Sustainability of natural products from TCM can be reached by breeding high-yield varieties or by biotechnological approaches. In the long term, natural products from TCM can contribute to the development of molecular target-guided therapies and individualized treatment strategies.
Anti-Breast Cancer Agents from Chinese Herbal Medicines
Chinese Herbal Medicines (CHM) have been used in disease prevention and treatment for centuries in China. A number of anti-breast cancer agents isolated from CHM recently, showed very interesting structures, although some of the mechanism of action is not quite clear. These unique chemical structures could be an important information resource for new anti-breast cancer drugs’ design and discovery. This review summarizes these findings on anti-breast cancer agents from CHM.
Anti-proliferative activities of selected Chinese medicinal herbs against human cancer cell lines
The main objective of this study was to investigate the anti-proliferative properties of selected traditional Chinese medicinal herbs with a view to discover potential candidates for the isolation of anti-cancer compounds and also for designing new anti-cancer herbal formulations. The plants selected for this study have ethno pharmacological importance and currently used in Chinese medicine. The Methylthiazolyldiphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was conducted to determine the anti-proliferative properties of the aqueous and ethanol extracts of the selected herbs against one control cell line and 5 human carcinoma cell lines. The key herbs found in this study that are expected to have excellent future potential are: Ligustrum lucidum, Paeonia suffuticosa, Sarcandra glabra, Scutellaria baicalensis, and Sanguisora officinalis. The study also indicated that the ethanol extracts of the selected herbs were generally more effective than the aqueous extracts. The findings of this study provide strong evidence that some of the medicinal plants examined are potential candidates for the isolation of anti-cancer compounds and also for designning new anti-cancer herbal formulations.