斑蝥素及其衍生物對癌症研究之文獻回顧

Article Review of Cantharidin and Its Derivatives for Cancer Study

斑蝥素入中藥可追溯至2000年以前，主要的品種是南方大斑蝥及黃黑小斑蝥，入藥部位為乾燥蟲體。近來之研究顯示斑蝥素有抗癌及升高白血球的效果，但對泌尿道卻有刺激性。為了減少其副作用，斑蝥素的衍生物，斑蝥酸鈉、去甲基斑蝥素等相繼被研發出來；研究發現去甲基斑蝥素抗癌效果比斑蝥素強而無泌尿道刺激之副作用，尤其去甲基斑蝥素易人工合成，故而更適合作為臨床應用。

The use of Mylabris as a traditional medicine in China can be traced back more than 2000 years, the species used in medicine are Mylabris phalerata and M. cichorii. In recent studies, it has antitumor, and leukocytosis properties, and has an irritant effect on the urinary tract. The active component of Mylabris is cantharidin. To prevent side effects of cantharidin, cantharidin analogues, disodium cantharidate and norcantharidin were discovered. This study demonstrated that norcantharidin has no urinary irritation and has more effective anticancer effects than cantharidin. Norcantharidin can be made by artificial synthesis; it will be more suitable application than cantharidin in clinical use.