Effect of Cuscuta chinensis water extract on 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced skin papillomas and carcinomas in mice.

Cuscuta chinensis, known as Aftimun, is reputed to have antitumour activity in the Unani system of medicine in India. The effect of a hot water extract of C. chinensis on 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced skin papillomas and carcinomas in Swiss albino mice was studied. Oral administration of the extract (1 g/kg body wt) thrice a week in 22 mice, started on the tenth day after the first application of DMBA to the 252nd day, markedly delayed the appearance and retarded the growth of papillomas and the incidence of carcinoma, relative to a control group with 28 mice, in a two-stage system of tumorigenesis. Its prophylactic effect was found to be statistically significant.