Extracts of P. koreana(SB-31(r))has been tried as an antitumor agent by traditional medicine practitioner in Korea for the past 30 years.
It is a specially prepared extract of P. koreana whose fractions lose efficacy compared to the original mixture. Lee1) observed substantial antitumor effects and minimal toxicity of SB-31 in sarcoma 180 animal tumor model(unpublished data).
For the past 5 ears, there has been dramatic though anecdotal therapeutic outcomes with SB-31 in some advanced stage cancer patients. We evaluated the in vitro antitumor effects of SB-31 against 3 kinds of gastric cancer cells, A549, Hela and
Caski,
MCF7, HepG2 and Hep3B and normal mononuclear cells. Cytotoxicity ws evaluated with the Tetrazolium-based colorimetric assay(MTT) after incubation of cancer cells with SB-31. Results; in 3 gastric cancer cells, ID50 of SB-31 were 0.16, 0.34 and
0.53mg/ml. Most effective tumor cell kill was achieved after 96 hrs of incubation with SB-31. The ID50 values of SB-31 on various cancer cell lines ranged from 0.14mg/ml to 0.27mg/ml. Keeping SB-31 ampul in room temperature up to 4 days did not
affect
the efficacy but the activity decreased after more than 4 days in the ambient temperature.
It is concluded that SB-31 is an active antitumor agent without significanct toxicity. The mechanism of action of SB-31 and its toxicity and efficacy should be further evaluated.
|