• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-21
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• 2006

This study was undertaken to evaluate safety and antitumor activity of Nexia, a processed extract of Rhus verniciflua STOKES by heating according to Korean patent 0504160 through toxicology, cancer research and clinical application. Nexia did not exhibit any toxicological symptoms through 13 week continuous treatment, dosage accumulation study and anaphylaxis response. The lifespan of four patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia under complete remission were 110, 83, 97, and 86 months after treatment of Nexia, respectively. These data suggest that Nexia, a processed extract by removing allergen from Rhus verniciflua STOKES, may have safety and antitumor activity and also still need continuous study on its mechanism and clinical trial.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.825-829
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• 2006

Rhus verniciflua Stokes has been used for treatment of blood stasis and abdominal mass in Oriental medicine. Rhus verniciflua Stokes has been experimentally reported to exert antioxidant, antiproliferative, antithrombotic and apoptotic activities. In the present study, the antiangiogenic and in vivo antitumor activities of aqueous extract of processed Rhus verniciflua Stokes (Nexia) by heat were examined to elucidate its anticancer mechanism. Nexia showed weak cytotoxiicty against human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and Lewis lung carcinoma cells (LLC) with IC50 of${\sim}200\;{\mu}g/ml\;and\;>200\;{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. Nexia significantly inhibited the proliferation and migratory activity in vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) treated HUVEC. Furthermore, Nexia effectively suppressed the tumor volume in A549 nonsmall lung cancer bearing athymic nude mice, CanN. Cg-Foxn 1nu/CrljBgi up to 40.7% as well as tumor weight incised from LLC cells innoculated into the flank of C57BL/6 mice up to -50% compared with untreated control at a dose of 300 mg/kg. Taken together, these results suggest that processed Rhus verniciflua Stokes may inhibit the growth of Lewis lung carcinoma cells partly via inhibition of angiogenesis and can be potently applied to angiogenesis dependent cancers. However, it still needs a further research on molecular mechanism, angiogenesis animal study and clinical trial in future.