Antitumor activity of crude extract and fractions from root tuber of Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight.

Antitumor activity of the ethanol extract from the root tuber of Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight and four fractions of the ethanol extract were investigated, both in vitro and in vivo. The five samples exhibited cytotoxic activity on human tumor cell lines K562, SHG44, HCT-8, A549, PC3, in vitro and inhibition in mouse implanted sarcoma S180, in vivo. Among the five samples, fraction E was noted to be of the highest antitumor activity.