Effect of Haishengsu on transplanted K562 and drug-resistant K562/ADM tumors: An experimental study

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of Haishengsu (HSS) on transplanted K562 and drug-resistant K562/ADM tumors. Methods: Mice were inoculated subcutaneously with K562 and K562/ADM cells, respectively. Tumour-bearing animals were divided into HSS, adriamycin, combination therapy (adriamycin plus HSS) and placebo groups. The anti-tumour effect was assessed by tumour growth curve and tumour inhibitory rate (IR). Results: In animals inoculated with K562 cells, the inhibitory rates of high (1800mg/kg) and medium (900mg/kg ) dose HSS groups were 100% and 96.4%, respectively, which was higher than that in the adriamycin (88.9%) or the combination therapy groups (85.8%, P < 0.05). The inhibitory rate in the low-dose HSS group (53.4%) was lower than in all other groups (P < 0.01). In mice inoculated with K562/ADM cells, the inhibitory rates in the high, medium and low dose HSS groups were 100%, 95.9%, and 44.1%, respectively. In the adriamycin group, the inhibitory rate was 23.07%, which was lower than in the HSS group (P < 0.01). Pathological examination of tumour tissues from HSS-treated animals showed extensive necrosis and bleeding. Conclusions: Haishengsu inhibits the growth of transplanted K562 tumours in mice. It is also effective in suppressing the growth of drug-resistant K562/ADM tumors in this animal model