Medicinal Compositions of Long Stephania Herb Exhibit Antilung Cancer Effects

Lung cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and due to its high mortality rate and resistance to treatment, there is an urgent need to develop effective treatments with low toxicity. Long stephania herb (LSH) is a tropical herb used clinically for the treatment of inflammation and analgesia, but its antitumor effects are unknown. In this study, UHPLC-OE-MS was used to detect the chemical components of LSH; the cytotoxic effects of these chemical components on normal lung cells and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines were observed in vitro cell experiments, and the inhibitory effects of LSH on the growth of NSCLC were detected in animal tumor models. The possible molecular targets of LSH for NSCLC were predicted by network pharmacology and molecular docking. The results showed that LSH has more than a thousand chemical components; at the microgram level per milliliter, it can effectively inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of lung cancer A549 cells and promote apoptosis in these cells. It also can effectively inhibit the growth of tumors in vivo and has no significant toxic effects on normal lungs, liver, heart, and kidneys. Analysis showed that 20 pharmacodynamic components of LSH may target EGFR, PIK3CA, PIK3R1, AKT1, HSP90AA1, SRC, MAPK1, MAPK3, STAT3, JUN, and CASP3. Inhibition of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and proteoglycans in cancer and other signaling pathways plays an anti-NSCLC role. In conclusion, this study is the first to report the efficacy of LSH in the treatment of NSCLC, and it is a very valuable tropical medicinal plant for the treatment of lung cancer.