Sustained complete remission of CLL associated with the use of a Chinese herbal extract: case report and mechanistic analysis.

We report the case of a man with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who, in the absence of cytotoxic chemotherapy, began taking a Chinese herbal extract. Shortly thereafter, he experienced a steady decline of his lymphocytosis and adenopathy, and he remains in remission now over 10 years later. The herbal extract inhibited the survival of primary CLL cells under in vitro culture conditions. However, it did not inhibit the activation of Akt or MAP kinase, nor did it inhibit the serine phosphorylation of STAT1. Thus, through an as yet unknown mechanism, this extract appears to exert pro-apoptotic effects in CLL.