Sea Cucumber Extract for EGFR Inhibition

Stem cell; cell based hair therapy
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I haven’t posted here for years because my herbal regimen has more or less stopped my hair loss (when I don’t drink too much), but I’ve followed the recent threads about DIY Follica treatments with interest. One barrier to the DIY approach seems to be access to often expensive prescription drugs for EGFR inhibition, so I thought I would look for alternatives. A search for “EGFR Inhibitor herbal” turned up this article: http://www.cicta.ca/journal/review_article.php.

Here are the relevant parts:

Sea Cucumber Extract contains the active ingredient Philinopside A, which has been shown through various studies to inhibit four different RTKs: vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) and fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)6,7.

  1. Tong Y, Zhang X, Tian F, Yi Y, Xu Q, Li L, et al. Philinopside A, a novel marine-derived compound possessing dual anti-angiogenic and anti-tumor effects. Int J Cancer. 2005; 114:843-53.

  2. Tian F, Zhang X, Tong Y, Yi Y, Zhang S, Li L, et al. PE, a New sulfated Saponin from Sea Cucumber, Exhibits Anti-Angiogenic and Anti-Tumor Activities in vitro and In Vivo.Cancer Biol Ther. 2005 Aug; 4(8):874-882.

I’m curious about whether this would make a viable substitute for commercial drugs.

M

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»
» Sea Cucumber Extract contains the active ingredient Philinopside A, which
» has been shown through various studies to inhibit four different RTKs:
» vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), epidermal growth
» factor receptor (EGFR), platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) and
» fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)6,7.
»
»

There are certain difficulties with finding natural EGF inhibitors, the main one being that they don’t just inhibit EGF or the receptors. VEGF is desired in follicular neogenesis and as you can see, the extract inhibits that too. Other natural EGF inhibitors have the dual purpose of also inhibiting wnt. The absence of wnt during the embryonic window would cause no development of follicles.
These difficulties are probably the reason why they chose synthetic inhibitors. The only natural one that I’ve found that does not bear reference to wnt inhibition or other necessary factors is silymarin, a component of milk-thistle extract.

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» There are certain difficulties with finding natural EGF inhibitors, the
» main one being that they don’t just inhibit EGF or the receptors. VEGF is
» desired in follicular neogenesis and as you can see, the extract inhibits
» that too.

Too bad. That’s what I was worried about. I look into silymarin. Thanks.

M