Anticancer effect of Jinlongshe granules on in situ-transplanted human MKN-45 gastric cancer in nude mice and xenografted sarcoma 180 in Kunming mice and its mechanism

AIM： To study the antitumor effect of Chinese compound Jinlongshe （JLS） granules on sarcoma 180 and MKN-45 human gastric cancer cell lines in vivo and its mechanism. METHODS： After establishment of S180 sarcoma （S180） and MKN-45 gastric cancer model of nude mice, the tumor-bearing mice were divided into 5 groups at random. Three experimental groups were respectively given the aqueous extract of JLS granules at doses of 120 g, 60 g and 20 g/（kg per 6/wk,i.g） for 3 wk in S180 and 6 wk in nude mice model. Positive control was given cyclophosphamide （Cy） at a dose of 50 mg/（kg per 3/wk, i.g） for 3 wk in S180 models and 5-Fluorouracil （5-FU） 20 mg/（kg per 3/wk, i.g） for 3 wk in nude mice model. Negative control was given normal saline （NS） at a dose of 0.18 g/（kg per 6/wk, i.g） respectively. After 3 wk in mice bearing S180 tumor and 6 wk in nude mice model, the experimental animals were sacrificed and the masses of tumor were weighed, and the rates of tumor inhibition of each treated group were calculated respectively. To determine the antitumor mechanisms, the morphological changes, cell cycle and apoptosis were observed in MKN-45 nude mice model. Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining FCM assay was used to further determine the live cells, apoptotic cells, necrotic cells and debris. RESULTS： The inhibitory rates of JLS granules at the doses of 20 g/kg, 60 g/kg and 120 g/kg were 50.31%, 55.94% and 68.13% （P 〈 0.01） in nude mice models and 40.90%, 50.32% and 58.46% （P 〈 0.01） in S180 model. The inhibitory rate of Cy was 85.22% in S180 models and the inhibitory rate of 5-FU was 53.43% in nude mice model （P 〈 0.01）. Nuclear chromatin and margination were observed under a transmission electron microscope （TEM）. The G0/G1 phase was arrested, typical apoptotic peak appeared, the apoptotic rate was 22.81%-38.54% in three JLS granule-treated groups. Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining FCM assay showed that the apoptotic cells were 4.36%, 3.08% and 7.08% in three dosages, most cells were localized in the low right quadrant. CONCLUSION：Jinlongshe granules possess anti-tumor effects on experimental tumor models in vivo, and apoptosis induction is one of its anti-tumor mechanisms.

Therapeutic Effect of Jinlongshe Granule(金龙蛇颗粒) on Quality of Life of Stage IV Gastric Cancer Patients Using EORTC QLQ-C30:A Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Objective： To evaluate the impact of Jinlongshe Granule （金龙蛇颗粒, JLSG） on quality of life （QOL） of stage IV gastric cancer patients. Methods： This randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled clinical trial included 50 patients with advanced gastric cancer. They were equally randomized into a JLSG group and a placebo group. Patients in both groups received routine Chinese herbal decoctions according to Chinese medicine （CM） treatment based on syndrome differentiation. Patients in JLSG group received additional JLSG, and those in the placebo group received an additional placebo. In the JLSG group, 19 patients who completed the study were used for analysis. In the placebo group, finally the data of 20 patients who completed the study were used for analysis. The treatment course was at least 3 months, and the follow-up duration was at least 6 months in 5 interviews. Repeated measurements of the subscale items and individual items in European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 （EORTC QLQ-C30） obtained at the 5 interviews were compared using different patient groups, changes over time and changes within one group over time independently to observe the tendency of changes in the scores. Results： Using time as the variant, there was significant difference in 4 functional scales （physical, role, emotional and social, P〈0.05）, 3 symptom scales （fatigue, nausea and vomiting and pain, P〈0.05） and a global health status/QOL scale （P〈0.05） and 6 single symptoms dyspnoea （P〉0.05）, insomnia （P〈0.05）, appetite loss （P〈0.05）, constipation （P〈0.05）, diarrhea （P〉0.05） and financial difficulties （P〈0.05）. There was also significant difference in these items between the two groups when the placebo group and group over time were used as variants （P〈0.05 or P〈0.01）. Conclusion： Additional use of JLSG on the basis of routine CM treatment could improve the somatic function, role function, emotional function, social function, cognitive function and general QOL of patients with advanced gastric cancer, and relieve the symptoms of fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain, loss of appetite and constipation.