Abstract 2175: Anemarrhena rhizome and Schisandra chinensis inhibit viability and promote apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cell lines
Authors: MarElia Catherine , Burkhardt Brant 
Published: July 2016

Pancreatic cancer has one of the highest mortality rates of any cancer, with just a 6% 5-year survival rate. The current standard chemotherapy is gemcitabine, alone or in combination with 5-fluorouracil. However, the prognosis still remains poor due to apoptotic resistance, presenting a need for an adjuvant therapy option that will induce apoptosis within pancreatic tumor cells. Emerging evidence has supported the use of herbal extracts as alternative or adjuvant treatments for pancreatic cancer. In this study, we evaluated the effects on pancreatic cancer cells of a mix of 8 herbal extracts, selected for their high clinical usage and documented ability to alleviate pancreas-specific ailments such as type 2 diabetes, yet not examined for application in pancreatic cancer.

The objective of this study was to determine the inhibitory effects of Astragalus membranaceus, Pseudostellaria heterophylla, Gypsum fibrosum, Anemarrhena rhizome, Solomon's seal rhizome, Rehmannia, Schisandra chinensis, and Cornus fruit extracts on pancreatic cancer cell viability in combination (referred to as 8-mix) and individually on pancreatic cancer cells. We also examined extracts previously demonstrated to inhibit pancreatic cancer cells, Cordyceps chinensis and American ginseng, as a control.

The viability of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell lines (BxPC-3 and Panc-1) and the human pancreatic islet: Panc-1 hybrid cell line (1.1B4) was evaluated in response to the 8-mix, C. chinensis, and A. membranaceus via MTT assay. To further characterize which herbs in the 8-mix were responsible for the reduction in cell viability, BxPC-3 and Panc-1 cells were assessed upon treatment with each individual herbal extract via MTT assay following a 12 hour exposure. To examine the impact of these herbs on a non-cancerous cell line, the T80 ovarian epithelial cell line was also evaluated. We measured the apoptotic activity of the 8-mix and two most potent individual herbs within the mix using a commercially available caspase 3/7 assay on BxPC-3 cells.

Initial testing showed significant inhibitory effects in all pancreatic cell lines induced by the 8-mix in a dose-dependent manner. A. rhizome and S. chinensis were the most potent inhibitors of pancreatic cancer cell viability among the individual extracts. A. rhizome had the greatest apoptotic activity in the BxPC-3 cells compared to S. chinensis, the 8-mix, and vehicle-treated controls. Within the non-cancerous ovarian T80 cell line, A. rhizome and S. chinensis significantly inhibited cell viability.

Taken together, our data suggests that A. rhizome induces apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells and both A. rhizome and S. chinensis significantly inhibit viability in numerous pancreatic cancer cell lines. These herbs may therefore have potential as an adjuvant therapy in combination with traditional chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.

Citation Format: Catherine MarElia, Brant Burkhardt. Anemarrhena rhizome and Schisandra chinensis inhibit viability and promote apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cell lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2175.