title: Ginkgo biloba and ovarian cancer prevention: epidemiological and biological evidence.
abstract: There is considerable interest in herbal therapies for cancer prevention but often with little scientific evidence to support their use. In this study, we examined epidemiological data regarding effects of commonly used herbal supplements on risk for ovarian cancer and sought supporting biological evidence. 4.2% of 721 controls compared to 1.6% of 668 cases regularly used Ginkgo biloba for an estimated relative risk (and 95% confidence interval) of 0.41 (0.20,0.84) (p=0.01); and the effect was most apparent in women with non-mucinous types of ovarian cancer, RR=0.33 (0.15,0.74) (p=0.007). In vitro experiments with normal and ovarian cancer cells showed that Ginkgo extract and its components, quercetin and ginkgolide A and B, have significant anti-proliferative effects ( approximately 40%) in serous ovarian cancer cells, but little effect in mucinous (RMUG-L) cells. For the ginkgolides, the inhibitory effect appeared to be cell cycle blockage at G0/G1 to S phase. This combined epidemiological and biological data provide supportive evidence for further studies of the chemopreventive or therapeutic effects of Ginkgo and ginkgolides on ovarian cancer.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Gynecologic Oncology and Epidemiology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Center, USA. bye@partners.org
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aponte
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Lily
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ming-Chih D
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vitonis
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Tai-Nang
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Cramer
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D018282:Cystadenocarcinoma, Mucinous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D020441:Ginkgo biloba / Q000737:chemistry*; D046934:Ginkgolides / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007783:Lactones / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016015:Logistic Models; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D009513:New Hampshire / Q000453:epidemiology; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011794:Quercetin / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D046934:Ginkgolides; D007783:Lactones; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011794:Quercetin; C045856:ginkgolide B; C477042:ginkgolide A