Abstract
Oral administration of red ginseng extracts (1% in diet for 40 weeks) resulted in
the significant suppression of spontaneous liver tumor formation in C3H/He
male mice. Average number of tumors per mouse in control group was 1.06,
while that in red ginseng extracts-treated group was 0.33 (p<0.05). Incidence of
liver tumor development was also lower in red ginseng extracts-treated group,
although the difference from control group was not statistically significant. Anti-carcinogenic
activity of white ginseng extracts, besides red ginseng extracts,
was also investigated. In the present study, the administration of white ginseng
extracts was proven to suppress tumor promoter-induced phenomena in vitro
and in vivo. It is of interest that oral administration of the extracts of Ren-Shen-Yang-
Rong-Tang, a white ginseng-containing Chinese medicinal prescription,
resulted in the suppression of skin tumor promotion by 12-o-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate
in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-initiated CD-1 mice. These
results suggest the usefulness of ginseng in the field of cancer prevention.