Significant Anti-Cancer Effects Of Milk Thistle Demonstrated By Scientists

Main Category: Liver Disease / Hepatitis
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;  Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 15 Nov 2007 - 3:00 PDT

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Recently, scientists demonstrated the anti-cancer effects of silibinin, a major biologically active compound of milk thistle. Being widely used as a folk remedy for liver diseases, milk thistle is safe and well-tolerated, and it protects the liver from drug or alcohol-related injury. Silibinin is highly purified from milk thistle, with a defined chemical structure and molecular weight (C25H22O10, MW: 482.44).

The study was carried out by Dr. Ke-Qin Hu and his research team at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Hu is a long¨Cterm and well-experienced research scientist and physician in the field of hepatology. He has published over 70 scientific articles in various medical professional journals. Many of his scientific research publications are focused on viral hepatitis B and C, cirrhosis, and liver cancer, all of which have significantly contributed to our better understanding of common liver diseases.

Dr. Hu and his colleagues' discovery of silibilin¡'s anti-liver cancer effects was published in the October 28 issue of the World Journal of Gastroenterology. The researchers found that silibilin can significantly reduce the growth of several human hepatoma cell lines. In addition, they demonstrated that silibinin mediates anti-liver cancer effects by (1) reduced cancer cell proliferation and cell cycle progression; (2) enhanced programmed death of cancer cells; and (3) altered chromatin structure of the cancer cells.

Their research results indicate that silibinin can be used to prevent the development of liver cancer, one of the most common cancers worldwide. The results have also opened our minds to the possibility of testing other herbal supplements for possible treatment of human cancers.

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Reference:
Lah JJ, Cui W, Hu KQ. Effects and mechanisms of silibinin on human hepatoma cell lines.
World J Gastroenterol 2007; 13(40): 5299-5305

Correspondence to: Ke-Qin Hu, Division of Gastroenterology, University of California, Irvine Medical Center, 101 The City Drive, Building 53, Suite 113, Orange, CA 92868, United States.

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 for providing 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 day 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 name of 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: Lixin Zhu
World Journal of Gastroenterology