Evaluation of anti-cancer effect of zerumbone and cisplatin on N-nitrosodiethylamine induced hepatic cancer in freshwater fish (Danio rerio)

Abstract

Cancer is the uncontrolled proliferation of abnormal cells in the body. There is a foreseeable need for an effective anti-carcinogenic drug. In this regard, zerumbone (ZER) is identified as one such therapeutic herbal compound that has been shown to enhance the anticancer activity of cisplatin (CIS), with negligible side effects. Yet, the fundamental mechanisms of co-treatment of ZER and CIS on Hepatocellular carcinoma remain indefinable. The current study is endeavored to evaluate the anti-cancer effect of the individual and co-treatment of ZER, CIS and its combination on Diethyl nitrosamine induced hepatic cancer in wild-type zebra fish (Danio Rerio) models. Our careful analysis on treated and untreated fishes shows that CIS + ZER combination group restricted further progression of hepatocellular carcinoma cells significantly, which concludes that co-treatment of ZER with CIS was therapeutically effective for treating human HCC cancer cells which were induced into zebra fish.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-cancer
• cisplatin
• zerumbone
• combination therapy
• nitrosodiethylamine
• zebra fish

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest with respect to publication of this article.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Ethical approval

All experiments were performed in compliance with the standard ethical guidelines and approved by the Institutional animal care and ethical committee.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.