Screening of QHF formula for effective ingredients from Chinese herbs and its anti-hepatic cell cancer effect in combination with chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND Recent studies have shown that effective ingredients of Chinese herbs are used more and more widely in the treatment or co-treatment of cancers, however, they are usually used separately and there has been limited research about joint application of Chinese herbs in multi-modal treatment. The aim of this study was to screen a QHF (Q: Qingrejiedu, H: Huoxuehuayu and F: Fuzhengguben) formula for effective ingredients from Chinese medicines and assess its anti-hepatic cell cancer (HCC) effect in combination with chemotherapy. METHODS Six effective ingredients from Chinese medicine were selected based on the previous literature and used in the study. The QHF formula and the best ratio of ingredients were evaluated in H(22) mouse (KM) models with solid tumors and ascites tumors by uniform design and monitoring inhibition of tumor growth and survival. We then observed the anti-hepatic cell cancer (HCC) effect of QHF when combined with cisplatin (DDP) in H(22) mouse (Balb/c) models with solid tumors and ascites tumors. Evaluating of the therapeutic effect included the general condition of the mice, inhibition of tumor growth, survival, changes in body weight, thymus index, spleen index and WBC counts. RESULTS The optimal QHF dose ratio for anti-hepatic cell cancer treatment was: 800 mg/kg Cinobufotalin, 14 mg/kg Ginsenosides Rg3, 5.5 mg/kg PNS and 100 mg/kg Lentinan. Treatment was more efficient in inhibiting the growth of transplanted tumors in H(22) mice when using the QHF formula (55.91%) than using Cinobufotalin (33.25%), Ginsenosides Rg3 (35.11%), PNS (27.12%) or Lentinan (4.97%) separately. QHF also prolonged the life of H(22) ascites hepatic cancer mice more efficiently (38.13%) than Cinobufotalin (25.00%), Ginsenosides Rg3 (27.27%), PNS (23.30%) or Lentinan (24.43%). QHF combined with DDP could reduce DDP-induced leucopenia, spleen and thymus atrophy and other toxic reactions. Combining QHF with DDP the tumor growth inhibition reached 82.54% with a 66.83% increase in survival. CONCLUSIONS QHF is more efficient in anti-hepatic cell cancer treatment than the single drugs that constitute the formula. QHF combined with DDP can attenuate tumor growth and suppresses the DDP-induced toxic reactions.