Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: Demethoxycurcumin (DMC), a derivate of curcumin from natural plants, exerts antitumor effects on various human cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Nevertheless, no reports have disclosed whether DMC can affect the growth of human cervical cancer cells in vivo. Therefore we investigated the antitumor effects of DMC on a HeLa cell xenograft model in nude mice in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four nude mice were subcutaneously injected with HeLa cells. All mice were randomly divided into control, low-dose DMC (30 mg/kg), and high-dose DMC (50 mg/kg) groups and individual mice were treated intraperitoneally accordingly every 2 days. RESULTS: DMC significantly reduced tumor weights and volumes of HeLa cell xenografts in mice, indicating the suppression of growth of xenograft tumors. CONCLUSION: These effects and findings might provide evidence for investigating the potential use of DMC as an anti-cervical cancer drug in the future.