Composition for inhibiting growth or inducing apoptosis of brain tumor stem cells, comprising a mixed extract as an active ingredient

Composition for inhibiting or inducing apoptosis in brain tumor stem cells using a mixed extract of six medicinal herbs, including Saururus chinensis and Scutellaria baicalensis

This technology is a composition that uses a mixed extract of six medicinal herbs—Saururus chinensis, Scutellaria baicalensis, Prunella vulgaris, Lithospermum erythrorhizon, Citrus unshiu peel, and Portulaca oleracea—as an active ingredient to inhibit the growth of or induce apoptosis in brain tumor stem cells. It is formulated as a pharmaceutical composition, health functional food, or adjuvant for brain tumor treatment.

Due to the blood-brain barrier, large-molecule anticancer drugs cannot reach the brain, limiting treatment options primarily to temozolomide, with minimal improvements in survival rates over the past 30 years. Furthermore, cancer stem cells resist conventional chemotherapy through activated damage repair mechanisms and drug efflux transporters, meaning that even if general cancer cells are eliminated, surviving stem cells remain the primary cause of recurrence and metastasis.

This technology involves a mixture extracted with water or alcohol from the six herbs in specific ratios, which regulates the G0 phase of the cell cycle to promote apoptosis in brain tumor stem cells. It targets a wide range of brain tumors, including glioblastoma, meningioma, and astrocytoma, and can be used as an adjuvant alongside conventional chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation. Applicable to treatments for intractable brain tumors like glioblastoma, natural medicine for preventing recurrence and metastasis, and health supplements for cancer patients, it offers a combination strategy to lower recurrence risk by targeting stem cells missed by standard therapies.

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Key Features:

• Pharmaceutical composition for inhibiting growth or inducing apoptosis of brain tumor stem cells comprising a mixed extract of Saururus chinensis, Scutellaria baicalensis, Prunella vulgaris, Lithospermum erythrorhizon, Citrus unshiu peel, and Portulaca oleracea as an active ingredient
• Mixed extract obtained by extracting a mixture of six medicinal herbs with one or more solvents selected from water, C1-C4 alcohols, and mixtures thereof
• Health functional food composition for preventing, improving, or inhibiting metastasis of brain tumors containing the six-herb mixed extract as an active ingredient
• Adjuvant for brain tumor treatment comprising the six-herb mixed extract to support one or more of brain surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy

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This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for the development of neuro-oncology and Alzheimer's gene expression systems and transgenic somatic cell lines for nuclear transfer.

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