2.2.4. Treatment with Natural Compounds

A natural compound was also used to modulate source tumor cells to facilitate the apoptosis of cancer cells. Pretreatment of both HCT 116 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines with an ethanol extract of *Phyllanthus amarus* induced the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated apoptosis of tumor cells [34]. The TCLs from these apoptotic cancer cells effectively activated monocyte-derived DCs, showing significantly facilitated gene expression levels of IL-12 and IL-6 cytokines compared to TCLs from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated cancer cells. The subsequent maturation of DCs was also determined by the enhanced immune functions of antigen presentation, chemotaxis capacity, phagocytic activity, T cell proliferation, and cytokine release.
