Objective To investigate the antitumor effect and immunological regulation of ginsenoside Rh2 and ginsenoside Rg3 from Panax notoginseng through detecting the activities of tumor necrotic factor-α （TNF-α） and interleukin-2 （IL-2） in peripheral blood of mice with melanoma-B16. Methods After melanoma-B16 was transplanted the mice were randomly divided into 9 groups

including the Rh2 groups and Rg3 groups with different doses of ginsenoside Rh2 and ginsenoside Rg3 respectively

group combined Rh2 and Rg3

CTX group and model group. The tumor-inhibitory rate

thymus and spleen indexes were calculated. The contents of serum TNF-α and IL-2 were detected by radioimmunoassay. Results There were some tumor-inhibitory effects in the Rh2 groups and Rg3 groups. The tumor-inhibitory rate in the high-dose and medium-dose Rh2 groups

high-dose Rg3 group and group combined Rh2 and Rg3 was respectively 35.5 %

30.1 %

33.6 % and 38.6 %. It was significant statistically （P<0.05）in tumor weight in above groups compared with that of the model group. Comparing to the CTX group ginsenoside Rh2 or ginsenoside Rg3 used separately or jointly

especially combined administration

all increased the contents of serum TNF-α and IL-2 as well as immune organ weight of mice with B16. Conclusion Ginsenoside Rh2 and ginsenoside Rg3 from Panax notoginseng has effects of inhibiting melanoma-B16

and improving immune function in mice. The combined administration of ginsenoside Rh2 and ginsenoside Rg3 is more efficacious.