Cancer: Breast
Action: Chemotherapy, immunomodular
Breast Cancer
Samuels, Maimon, and Zisk-Rony, (2013) treated a series of 20 female breast cancer patients with the botanical compound LCS101 as adjuvant to conventional chemotherapy. At the end of the treatment regimen, patients rated their symptoms. Seventy percent reported that they had either no or mildly severe levels of fatigue; 60% none to mildly severe weakness; 85% none to mildly severe pain; 70% none to mildly severe nausea; and 80% none to mildly severe vomiting. Only 20% reported severe impairment of overall function, and only 40% severely impaired QOL. No toxic effects were attributed by patients to the LCS101 treatment, and 85% reported that they believed the botanical compound had helped reduce symptoms.
Immunomodular
NK cells are considered to be a central mediator in the 'cross talk' between the adaptive and the innate immune systems, and play an important role in the inhibition and killing of tumor cells (Lee & Gasser, 2010). The LCS101 component Astragalus membranaceus has been shown to stimulate NK-cell activity in human peripheral lymphocytes, as well as restoring steroid-inhibited NK-cell activity (Mills & Bone, 2000). Polysaccharides of this herb were shown to enhance NK cell activity of normal subjects and patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. LCS101 was also shown to enhance cytokine production, increasing TNF-α secretion from murine macrophages 100-fold when compared to untreated controls. TNF-α is a potent anti-tumor cytokine that enhances the activity of macrophages, NK cells, and cytotoxic T cells.
Finally, LCS101 was observed to increase production of IFN-γ, correcting decreased levels following 5-FU treatment, and increasing unaltered levels of the cytokine following exposure to doxorubicin. IFN-γ production is induced by T cells, NK cells, and macrophages, and plays a role in the inhibition of tumor growth, promotion of Th1 immune responses, and differentiation of cytotoxic NK and T cells. Immune-competent mice who lack IFN-γ fail to normalize tissue homeostasis and clear low-level microbial infections, resulting in chronic inflammation with an increased incidence of hematological and solid-tissue cancers (Rachmut et al., 2013).
Induced Hematological Toxicities
Sixty-five breast cancer patients were recruited, with 34 allocated to LCS101 and 31 allocated to placebo treatment. Patients in the treatment group developed significantly less severe (grades 2-4) anemia (p < .01) and leukopenia (p < .03) when comparing grades 0-1 with grades 2-4, with significantly less neutropenia (p < .04) when comparing grades 0-2 with grades 3-4. This effect was more significant among patients undergoing a dose-dense regimen. The addition of LCS101 to anthracycline- and taxane-based chemotherapy is safe and well-tolerated, and may significantly prevent some chemotherapy-induced hematological toxicities in early breast cancer patients (Yaal-Hahoshen et al., 2011).
LCS101 Formula:
Astragalus membranaceus, Poriae cocos, Atractylodes macrocephala, Lycium chinense, Ligustrum lucidum, Paeonia lactiflora, Paeonia obovata, Citrus reticulata, Ophiopogon japonicus, Milletia reticulata, Oldenlandia diffusa, Scutellaria barbata, Prunella vulgaris, and Glehnia littoralis.
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