Tumor cells generally proliferate rapidly and the demand for essential nutrients as well as oxygen always exceeds the supply due to the unregulated growth and the insufficient and inappropriate vascular supply. However, cancer cells show an inherent ability to tolerate extreme conditions, such as that characterized by low nutrient and oxygen supply, by modulating their energy metabolism. Thus, ...

Essiac, a tea reportedly developed by the Ojibwa tribe of Canada and widely publicized as a homeopathic cancer treatment, is prepared from a mixture of four herbs Arctium lappa, Rumex acetosella, Ulmus rubra and Rheum officinale. Each of these herbs has been reported to possess antioxidant and anti-cancer activity. Essiac itself has also been reported to demonstrate anti-cancer activity in vitr...

Over the last twenty years, there is a limited number of effective cytotoxic or biological agents that managed to get approval in advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Despite numerous trials, investments in translational research and generally in health care, the survival of pancreatic cancer patients has improved by a few only months. This disappointing reality necessitates a better unde...

Activity-guided fractionation of a MeOH extract of the roots of Saussurea lappa C.B.Clarke (Compositae), using an in vitro protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibition assay, led to the isolation of four active constituents: betulinic acid (1), betulinic acid methyl ester (2), mokko lactone (3) and dehydrocostuslactone (4), along with nine inactive compounds. Our findings indicate that be...

The low bioavailability of most flavonoids limits their application as anti-carcinogenic agents in humans. A novel approach of treatment with a mixture of bioactive compounds that share molecular anti-carcinogenic targets may enhance the effect on these targets at low concentrations of individual compound, thereby overcoming the limitations of reduced bioavailability. We therefore investigated ...

Arctiin is a major lignan constituent of Arctium lappa and has anti-cancer properties in animal models. It was recently reported that arctiin induces growth inhibition in human prostate cancer PC-3 cells. However, the growth inhibitory mechanism of arctiin remains unknown. Herein we report that arctiin induces growth inhibition and dephosphorylates the tumor-suppressor retinoblastoma protein in...