beware--over-the-counter natural product specifically upregulates her2neu!

[Lani]

Menopause. 2006 Oct 23; [Epub ahead of print] Links
Si-Wu-Tang and its constituents promote mammary duct cell proliferation by up-regulation of HER-2 signaling.

Chang CJ, et al
From the 1Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University; 2Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Veterans General Hospital; 3Cheng-Hsin Rehabilitation Medical Center; 4Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University; 5Institute of Bioinformatics, National Yang-Ming University; and 6National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
OBJECTIVE:: The consumption of over-the-counter natural products by perimenopausal women remains a challenging problem. It is our aim to investigate the proliferative effect of Si-Wu-Tang (SWT) and its constituents on MCF7 breast cancer cells as well as the SWT-modulated cell signaling and HER-2 gene expression. DESIGN:: By using the MCF7 (ER+, HER-2 low), BT474 (ER+, HER-2 high), MDAMB231 (ER-, HER-2 low), and SKBR3 (ER-, HER-2 high) mammary duct cell lines as our in vitro model, the mitogenic effects of SWT and its constituents were assessed by trypan blue dye exclusion assay and DNA flow cytometry. SWT-modulated cell signaling and HER-2 gene expression were evaluated in the MCF7 line by Western blot and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analyses. RESULTS:: The results showed that SWT and some of its constituents dose-dependently stimulated cell proliferation of MCF7 cells. The activation of HER-2, its downstream signaling molecules AKT and ERK1/2, as well as HER-2 gene up-regulation were involved in SWT-stimulated cell proliferation. The addition of neutralizing antibody against HER-2 abrogated the SWT-up-regulated HER-2 expression, indicating a positive feedback control for the action of HER-2 in this setting. Ferulic acid, one of the major compounds in SWT, not only promoted cell proliferation of MCF7, BT474, MDAMB231, and SKBR3 cells, but also increased the phosphorylation of HER-2, AKT, and ERK1/2, as well as overexpression of HER-2, on MCF7 cells. CONCLUSIONS:: We conclude that SWT and its active constituents stimulate mammary duct cell proliferation by modulating HER-2, PI3K/AKT, and MAPK signaling and the positive feedback of HER-2 gene expression. This provides important information for perimenopausal women who are at risk of or have breast cancer or other growths in breast tissue.

[Lani]

Anyone know?

[KellyA]

Dear Lani,

Not sure if this answers your question or not, but when I researched this herb, it was very popular in easing "womanly dicomforts" and seemed to be a heavily used herb by acupunturists (sp?). It's all over the counter, and there are many brands and forms in the chinese natural herb category. One big one is "Menstro Ease". Another is "Four Ingredient Pills".

Thank you so much for this post, as I am just starting to look into supplements and will definitely search for and AVOID this one.

Kelly

[hutchibk]

Very interesting. It has been recommended to me to stay away from herbs, especially while on chemo. I have found someone who I believe is a very knowledgeable naturopath who is cancer specific and has been researching herbs and supplements for about 20 years in relation to cancer and chemo. He works with me on supplementation and asked me at the outset to stay away from chinese herbs. Mostly because there just isn't enough research about them and there is no regulation on the growth, cultivation, and production of them... how does one (or their herbalist) know for sure that they are getting what they think they are getting?

Good info. Thanks for the post!

[hutchibk]

si-wu-tang
A famous classical Chinese formula for regulating the blood; combines, angelica, rehmannia, ligusticum and white peony. Commonly used for menstrual irregularities, low blood count, post partum and menopausal symptoms.