In vivo antitumor activity of ZYD88, a Chinese herbal medicine, in animal models with S180 sarcoma and Ehrlich tumor.

Cancer is a leading cause of death in the world. The continuous development of effective and nontoxic therapeutic agents is a major task in the battle of cancer. We report the in vivo effects of a Chinese herbal medicine, ZYD88, on the inhibition of tumor growth in an S(180) xenograft animal model and the improvement of animal survival in the Ehrlich tumor model. Oral administration of ZYD88 in mice with the xenograft S(180) sarcoma significantly inhibited tumor growth in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, ZYD88 given to the animals with Ehrlich ascitic tumors by gavage significantly prolonged the life span compared with that of animals treated with saline. In both animal models, the effects of ZYD88 were comparable to those of a standard chemotherapeutic agent, cyclophosphamide, although it had few side effects. These results clearly demonstrated the in vivo anticancer activity of ZYD88 in two different animal models and suggest that ZYD88 is a potential agent for the clinical management of cancer and warrants further preclinical and clinical investigations.