Inhibitory Effects of Tualang Honey on Experimental Breast Cancer in Rats: A Preliminary Study

• Main Authors: Abd Kadir, Erazuliana, Sulaiman, Siti Amrah, Yahya, Nurul Khaiza, Othman, Nor Hayati
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevetion 2013
• Subjects: RJ370-550 Diseases of children and adolescents
• Online Access: http://eprints.usm.my/37322/1/POCPA9_2013_v14n4_2249.pdf; http://eprints.usm.my/37322/; http://www.koreascience.or.kr/article/ArticleFullRecord.jsp?cn=POCPA9_2013_v14n4_2249

The study was conducted to determine the effect of Malaysian jungle Tualang Honey (TH) on development of breast cancer induced by the carcinogen 7,12-dimethylbenz(α)anthracene (DMBA) in rats. Forty nulliparous female Sprague-Dawley rats were given 80 mg/kg DMBA then randomly divided into four groups: Group 1 served as a Control while Groups 2, 3 and 4 received 0.2, 1.0 or 2.0 g/kg bodyweight/day of TH, respectively, for 150 days. Results showed that breast cancers in the TH-treated groups had slower size increment and smaller mean tumor size (≤2cm3 ) compared to Controls (≤8cm3 ). The number of cancers developing in TH-treated groups was also significantly fewer (P<0.05). Histological grading showed majority of TH–treated group cancers to be of grade 1 and 2 compared to grade 3 in controls. There was an increasing trend of apoptotic index (AI) seen in TH-treated groups with increasing dosage of Tualang Honey, however, the mean AI values of all TH-treated groups were not significantly different from the Control value (p>0.05). In conclusion, Tualang Honey exerted positive modulation effects on DMBA-induced breast cancers in rats in this preliminary study