Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Approximately 22,220 patients are diagnosed annually in the United States, of whom 10,990 are expected to die. In China, based on two national mortality surveys conducted in 1970s and 1990s, there is an obvious clustering of geographical distribution of gastric cancer in the country, with the high mortality being mostly located in rural areas, especially in Gansu, Henan, Hebei, Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces in the middle-western part of China.

Several studies have suggested that ginseng root may prevent the formation of carcinogen-induced tumors in animals(Cancer Detect Prev 1983;6:515–25; Cancer Detect Prev Suppl 1987;1:301–9). A large case-control study (Int J Epidemiol 1990;19:871–6; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 1995;4:401–8) and a small cohort study (Int J Epidemiol 1998;27:359–64) have suggested that ginseng use is associated with a 60% to 70% reduction in gastric cancer risk in Korean populations.

The ingredient with the strongest anti-cancer activity has been identified to be aglycone dammarane sapogenins, especially, protopanaxadiol (PPD), which was confirmed to be able induce apoptosis of a number of cancer cells including gastric cancer cell. Chinese researchers further looked into the concentration requirement for apoptosis induction of gastric cancers. In their research, thy found that PPD, at low concentrations of <2ug/ml, can effectively arrest cell growth, and the majority of cells stopped at G1 phase (the phase before entering active proliferation). When the PPD concetration reached 10ug/ml, the gastric cancer cells underwent apoptosis (programmed cell death).

The research findings were published on Chinese Journal of Gerontology 2011, 31(12).