漢方薬が癌治療の効果を増強
© Yale University
エール大学のYung-Chi “Tommy” Cheng教授
漢方薬の黄ゴン湯をベースにしたPHY906が癌の化学療法の副作用を軽減し，治療を助けることがマウスの実験で確認された。黄ゴン湯は4種類の薬草を含み，昔から悪心や嘔吐，下痢などに使われていた。実験でPHY906を与えたマウスは，与えなかったマウスと比べて化学療法による胃腸の副作用が軽減され，体重の減少が小さく，抗腫瘍作用が大きかった。副作用軽減に現在使われている治療法は通常，一つのメカニズムに絞ったものだが，常に効果があるわけではない。この処方は炎症の抑制，腸の細胞の増殖促進といった複数のメカニズムで作用し，効果を発揮したようだ。（吉田素子）
A combination of Chinese herbs(1) in use for more than 1,800 years reduced the gastrointestinal(2) side effects(3) of chemotherapy(4) in mice(5), while actually enhancing(6) the effects of the cancer(7) treatment, Yale University researchers(8) report.
The formula(9) used in the experiment consists of(10) four herbs, called PHY906, and is based on a herbal recipe(11) called Huang Qin Tang(12), used historically to treat nausea(13), vomiting(14) and diarrhea(15). The study, published August 18 in the journal Science Translational(16) Medicine, asked whether the use of the formula could reduce gastrointestinal effects of a common chemotherapy drug without affecting its ability to kill cancerous(17) cells(18).
Chemotherapy causes a number of toxic(19) side effects, which are usually treated with several different drugs with mixed success(20).
“Chemotherapy causes great distress(21) for millions of patients, but PHY906 has multiple(22) biologically(23) active(24) compounds(25) which can act on multiple sources of discomfort(26),” said Yung-Chi “Tommy” Cheng, Henry Bronson professor of pharmacology(27), co-director of the Yale Cancer Center’s Developmental(28) Therapeutics(29) program and senior author(30) of the paper.
Mice undergoing(31) chemotherapy that were given PHY906 lost less weight and experienced more anti-tumor activity(32) than mice not given the formula, the team reported.
The herbal formula reduced toxicity(33) of the chemotherapy by multiple mechanisms, including the inhibiting(34) inflammation(35) and promoting the creation of new intestinal(36) cells, the team reported. This cannot be accomplished by current drugs, which usually target only one mechanism.
“This combination of chemotherapy and herbs represents a marriage(37) of Western and Eastern approaches to the treatment of cancer,” Cheng said.
(1)薬草 (2) 胃腸の (3) 副作用 (4) 化学療法 (5) マウス (6) 増強している (7) 癌 (8) 研究者
(9) 処方 (10) ～から成る (11) 漢方薬 (12) 黄ゴン湯 (13) 吐き気，悪心 (14) 嘔吐 (15) 下痢
(16) トランスレーショナル（基礎研究の臨床への応用，Science Translational Medicineは雑誌名）
(17) 癌性の (18) 細胞 (19) 有害な (20) 失敗したり成功したりして (21) 苦痛
(22) 多数の (23) 生物学的に (24) 活性がある (25) 化合物 (26) 不快感 (27) 薬理学
(28) 発展的な (29) 治療法 (30) 主席著者，統括著者 (31) ～を受けている (32) 抗腫瘍作用
(33) 毒性 (34) ～を抑制すること (35) 炎症 (36) 腸の (37) 融合
