Inhibition of Hep2 and HeLa cell proliferation in vitro and EAC tumor growth in vivo by Lapemis curtus (Shaw 1802) venom.

The antitumor activity of the sea snake venom (Lapemis curtus) was evaluated against Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC) in Swiss albino mice and HeLa and Hep2 tumor cell cultures. Among the different doses tested, 6.50 microg/ml at 24 h was found to effectively inhibit cancer cell proliferation. The same dose on EAC-bearing mice by i.p. injection significantly reduced the tumor growth and was demonstrated by increased life span of the mice by 201.25%.