Scutellaria baicalensis, a herbal medicine: anti-proliferative and apoptotic activity against acute lymphocytic leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma cell lines.

Scutellaria baicalensis (S.B.) is a widely used Chinese herbal medicine. We initially investigated its in vitro anti-tumor activities. S.B inhibited the growth of ALL, lymphoma and myeloma cell lines by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at clinically achievable concentrations. The anti-proliferative effect was associated with mitochondrial damage, modulation of the Bcl family of genes, increased level of the CDK inhibitor p27(KIP1) and decreased level of c-myc oncogene. HPLC analysis of S.B. showed it contains 21% baicalin and further studies confirmed it was the major anti-cancer component of S.B. Thus, Scutellaria baicalensis should be tested in clinical trials for these hematopoietic malignancies.