Cancer of the uterine cervix is primary cancer in uterine cervix with high prevalence and fatalities in the world or the fourth most often found in women. It is even the second cancer that hit women of reproductive age.
It is known that cancer of the uterine cervix is caused by long term infection of Human papillomavirus (HPV), especially high-risk HPVs such as HPV 16, HPV 18, HPV 31 and HPV 33. Currently, main therapy for cervical cancer is still surgery and radiation, because cervical cancer is a gynecologic cancer that is less sensitive to chemotherapy. But generally after these cancer therapies, as high as 40% patients still have tumour remaining, metastasis or relapse that needs another form of therapy,
This condition as well as side-effect and costly price of medication have driven researchers to find effective and selective medication with appropriate molecular target. One of those is using active compounds of isoflavone from clove leaves oil as anticancer medicine.
Doctoral student of Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing UGM, Lelly Yuniarti, did research on the mechanism of anticancer molecular and co-chemotherapy of compounds of clove leaves oil in uterine cervix culture.The compound named as 1,2-epoksi-3(3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopiron-4on) propana (EPI) has medium cytotoxic activities to the culture of uterine cancer cells.
“It turned out that EPI compound with combination of doxorubicin (DOX) can be recommended as co-chemotherapy that is potent to increase the efficacy and reduces toxic,” said Lelly in her doctoral examination in the Faculty’s auditorium on Friday (31/8).
The research still preliminary, she stated that the research needs to be further developed for in vivo testing on the combination of compounds EPI and DOX and EPI and cisplatin (CIS) in testing animal to know the efficacy of the anticancer and its toxic effect.