Chemotherapy is a method to treat cancer by destroying cancer cells, and the effectiveness of agents on various types of cancer cells has been confirmed experimentally and clinically. Chemotherapeutic agents cause a range of side effects, mainly affecting the fast-dividing cells of the body. In this study, we explored the alleviative effects of Saengshik on the side effects of chemotherapeutic agents, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and cisplatin, after single or multiple-dose administration of the agents in mice. The results showed that Saengshik had effects against decreasing spleen weight as well as reductions of RBCs, WBCs, and platelets counts. We also observed the effects of Saengshik administration against the hepatotoxicity caused by 5-FU and cisplatin, where the preventive effects of Saengshik administration on glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) levels were observed. Furthermore, survival time extension was observed after Saengshik administration, where the survival rate was prolonged up to 90% in both the Saengshik plus 5-FU administered group and the Saengshik plus cisplatin administered group. In conclusion, Saengshik proved to have alleviative effects on the side-effects of anti-cancer agents. (Cancer Prev Res 12, 319-328, 2007)

Keywords: Chemotherapeutic agent, Fluorouracil, Cisplatin, Side-Effect, Saengshik