Garcinone E, a xanthone derivative, has
potent cytotoxic effect against hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines.
Ho CK,
Huang YL,
Chen CC.
Department of Medical Research & Education, Veterans General Hospital, Taipei,
ROC.
Treatment of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs)
with chemotherapy has generally been disappointing and it is most desirable to
have more effective new drugs. We extracted and purified 6 xanthone compounds
from the rinds (peel) of the fruits of Garcinia mangostana L., using partitioned
chromatography and then tested the cytotoxic effects of these compounds on a
panel of 14 different human cancer cell lines including 6 hepatoma cell lines,
based on the MTT method. Several commonly used chemotherapeutic agents were
included in the assay to determine the relative potency of the potential new
drugs. Our results have shown that one of the xanthone derivatives which could
be identified as garcinone E has potent cytotoxic effect on all HCC cell lines
as well as on the other gastric and lung cancer cell lines included in the
screen. We suggest that garcinone E may be potentially useful for the treatment
of certain types of cancer.