Why Does Gecko, A Chinese Traditional Medicine, Have Anti-Tumor Effects?

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 24 Sep 2008 - 13:00 PDT

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The incidence and mortality of tumors keep ascending all over the world. Gecko had a positive effect on malignant tumors in clinical practice reports. However, there was no study on the pharmacological studies of Gecko and its mechanisms of anti-tumor action remained unclear.

A research team led by Prof. Wang from Henan University of China addressed this question, and their findings were published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.

As we know, the effect on anti-tumor of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is related to more pathways and more targets. Most studies on action mechanisms of TCM in anti-tumor showed that TCM could inhibit tumors though supporting the healthy energy and strengthening the body resistance. The article showed that Gecko could not only reinforce immunity of organism but also induction of tumor cell apoptosis and the down-regulation of protein expression of VEGF and bFGF.

Chemotherapy, one of the major methods to treat cancer in Western medicine at present, has a poor selectivity and strong toxic and side effects, thus influencing its anticancer effect. In the past 40 years, Chinese experts have gained remarkable achievements in cancer treatment by integrating TCM with chemotherapy. This article gives us pharmacological studies of Gecko about antitumor and thus may provide foundation for its effective constituent.

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Reference: Liu F, Wang JG, Wang SY, Li Y, Wu YP, Xi SM. Antitumor effect and mechanism of Gecko on human esophageal carcinoma cell lines in vitro and xenografted sarcoma 180 in Kunming mice. World J Gastroenterol 2008; 14(25):3990-3996 http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/14/3990.asp

Correspondence to: Jian-Gang Wang, Medical college, Henan University of Science & Technology, Anhui Road 6, Luoyang 471003, Henan Province, China.

About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection. It provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2003-2000 IF: 3.318, 2.532, 1.445 and 0.993. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of every month. The WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the title China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.

About The WJG Press

The WJG Press mainly publishes World Journal of Gastroenterology.

Source: Lai-Fu Li
World Journal of Gastroenterology