Therapeutic Efficacy of Phyllanthus emblica L. Fruit Extract and Cisplatin Combination against 7, 12-Dimethylbenz(a)Anthracene Induced Hamster Buccal Pouch Carcinogenesis

Amla fruit has been conventionally used as a health food for the prevention and therapy of cancer. Accordingly, the study aimed to explore the chemotherapeutic efficacy of amla and cisplatin combination on molecular mechanistic apoptosis implicated in proliferation, apoptosis and angiogenesis moleules during DMBA-induced buccal pouch carcinogenesis. Our western blot results showed that up regulation of Bcl-2, cyclin D1, Proliferating cell nuclear antigen, Cdc25C, Cox-2, Vascular endothelial growth factor and Survivin were observed in DMBA treated groups, whereas after treatment with combination therapy significantly down regulated the above noted proteins expression level. It was also observed that combination of amla and cisplatin treated tumor groups induced increased levels of Bax, caspase-3 and caspase-9 levels. More intriguingly, the effect was more pronounced in the tumor animals receiving combination therapy suggesting a synergistic effect. The results clearly suggest that combination therapy of amla and cisplatin had inhibitory effect during oral carcinogenesis via induction of apoptosis and suppression of molecules involved in cell proliferation and angiogenesis. Thus, amla fruit contains novel rich source of natural antioxidants and can be considered as an adjuvant therapeutic agent with cisplatin for oral cancer.