In Vivo Study on the Anticancer Property of Pugasaram: An Arecanut Based Polyherbal Gel in Oral Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Cancer is one of the principle causes of human mortality in all countries. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the usual therapeutic remedies for this disease. As there are several side effects of such treatments, the researchers are constantly in search of certain alternate remedial measures using promising herbal products. Several plants are already known for their anticancer properties. In Ayurvedic system of medicine, preparations using several herbs, called polyherbal products, are generally preferred over single herb preparation. In the present study, the anticancer property of a polyherbal gel known as Pugasaram, prepared mainly by using arecanut and betel leaf as the main ingredients along with ten other plants / plant products, was studied in cancer induced mice. The preliminary toxicity study revealed that there was no change in the behaviour of mice fed with this gel at a concentration of 2000mg/kg body weight. The anticancer efficacy profile of Pugasaram showed a significant reduction in the size of tumors and their progression compared to the untreated DMBA applied mice and showed even better than that of cisplatin treated group.