BACKGROUND: Unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lacks effective therapy and entails very poor progress. In 1991, we found that Chinese herbal compound Star-99 has potentially effect on HCC. The purpose of this study was to probe the anti-cancer effect and the mechanism of focal injection of Chinese herbal compound Star-99 into HCC of mice.
METHODS: In 32 nude mice transplanted with human hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC-7721, 16 received hypodermic implant and the other 16 orthotopic liver transplant. They were randomly divided into three groups: Star-99 group (Chinese herbal compound, 16 mice), alcohol group (8) and saline group (8), respectively. Intratumoral injection of Star-99, alcohol and saline was carried out 10 days after transplantation of HCC. Twenty days after the first injection, the nude mice were killed after being injected every 5 days with a total of 4 injections in each mouse. Tumor tissues were examined pathologically or via an electron microscope and flow cytometrical (FCM) DNA analysis. The three diameters of the tumor were measured with high-frequency ultrasound before and after injection, and the growth index was calculated with the following formula: volume of tumor (after treatment-before treatment)/volume of tumor (before treatment). Double-blind method was applied in the experiment.
RESULTS: The growth index of the Star-99 group (0.068±0.022) and the alcohol group (0.079±0.024) was markedly lower than that of the saline group (4.345±1.453, P<0.01), but there was no significant difference between the Star-99 and alcohol groups. Coagulation (8/8) was the major pathological change in the alcohol group. In the Star-99 group, however, the phenomenon of lymphocytes attacking cancer cells could even be seen under the electron microscope. The typical apoptosis cells and apoptosis bodies as well as the collagen fibrae lined in mass could also be seen in the group (14/16). FCM DNA analysis showed that the rate of apoptosis in the Star-99 group (93.8%) was significantly higher than that in the alcohol (12.5%) and saline groups (12.5%) (P<0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that Star-99 markedly inhibits and destructs hepatocellular cancer cells. Star-99 is effective to directly destroy the membrane, cytoplasm and nuclei of tumor cells, causing their crumbling, activate the immune function and inflammatory reaction of nude mice, and induce the apoptosis of cancer cells. The effect of Star99 is significantly different from that of alcohol that mainly causes coagulation of cancer cells. Star-99 is feasible in the treatment of HCC.