Effects of Xuefu zhuyu tang and mitomycin C on liver tumors in mice

Background: Carcinogenesis, in traditional Chinese medicine, is defined as resulting from the accumulation of stagnant and toxic substances within the human body. Xuefu zhuyu tang (XZT) represents a group of herbs for 'destagnation'; and mitomycin C (MMC) is currently and widely used for cancer therapy. We investigated the combined effects of XZT and MMC on mice bearing liver tumors. Methods: Mice bearing experimental liver tumors were divided into 4 groups, including tumor control, XZT-, MMC-, and combined-treatment groups. Several effects were observed in this study including survival rate, increase of life span, and mean survival time within 60 days after treatment. Survival rates and biosynthesis activities of tumor and liver cells were also evaluated. Results: Oral administration of XZT, an intraperitoneal injection of MMC, and a combination of the two increased the mean survival time of tumor-bearing mice by 12.5, 14.1, and 17.2 days, respectively. These 3 treatments were cytotoxic to sarcoma-180-induced liver tumor cells. The synthesis rates of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), and protein by tumor cells were all measurably inhibited by the combined treatment. Conclusion: XZT combined with MMC may be an effective modality in cancer therapy. The detailed mechanisms of these combinations in human liver neoplasms use to be further studied.