— Christine M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate
The glandular secretions and skin of the common Chinese toad (Bufo bufo gargarizans),
found in rice fields, wetlands and ponds across China, may be a potent
medicine in treating liver inflammation and preventing liver cancer in
patients with hepatitis B-related liver disease.
Extracts from this frog have been used for
hundreds of years in traditional Chinese medicine. "One of the most
widely used commercial preparation is Huachansu (Cinobufacini), which
is a sterilized hot water extract of dried toad skin," researchers
noted in a review of current studies analyzing the effectiveness of
toad extracts in treating inflammation and cancer.
"Since 1991, Cinobufacini has been officially
approved by the Chinese Food and Drug Administration as a regimen for
treating patients with HBV and several types of cancer including liver,
lung, colon, and pancreatic cancer," they wrote. Lab tests show
Cinobufacini slowed the growth of lung cancer cells in mice and
prolonged their lives. Other clinical trials in China have demonstrated
the anticancer effect of Cinobufacini injection in liver and lung
cancer patients with response rates of 10% and 16% respectively, and
other studies showed higher concentrations of the drug could yield even
better results.
Also noteworthy, when Cinobufacini was used in
combination with drugs such as chemotherapy or radiation, the drug
appeared to lessen those treatment's toxic side effects while
protecting healthy liver tissue and improving outcomes.
The Australian researchers, writing in the March issue of the journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine,
stressed that additional clinical trials are needed to full identify
how the compound works. "... Toad glandular secretion and skin
extraction have a real potential as resources for the development of
therapeutical agents for preventing or treating human cancers by
inducing apoptosis (cancer cell death), sensitizing cancer cells to
conventional cancer therapies, or protecting host cells from any side
effects," they wrote.
Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3963377/
HBV Journal Review
May 1, 2014, Vol 11, no 5
http://www.hbvadvocate.org/news/HBJ11.5.htmLabels: alternative medicine, Chinese medicine, Liver cancer HCC, toad skin