Objective To investigate the possible mechanism of Jianpi Lishi Huayu Recipe（健脾利湿化瘀方） in the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Methods The Jianpi Lishi Huayu Recipe was divided into reinforcing healthy qi medicine

detoxification medicine and dissipating blood stasis medicine according to the actions of the drug. The experiment was divided into a whole formula group

a reinforcing healthy qi group

a detoxification group and a dissipating blood stasis group. Each group was given 4 drug concentrations

10

20

100

1000 mg/ml

and a control group containing culture medium and cells was set up. Human prostate cancer C4-2 cell suspension100 μl（1. 5 × 10

4

cells） was added to a 96-well plate. After 24 hours of culture

cells were continued to culture for 48 h by adding different concentrations drugs according to the experimental grouping. The inhibition rate of each group was calculated by MTT assay. According to the results

the single drug in the whole formula group and the single drug in the split formula group with the highest total inhibition rate were applied to C4-2 cells

and the single drug with the highest cell inhibition rate was selected. The cell proliferation of Jianpi Lishi Huayu Recipe whole formula and best single drug on C4-2 cells in androgen-containing and androgen-free medium were observed

and the cell inhibition rate was calculated. Results The inhibition rate of human prostate cancer C4-2 cells in each group was concentration-dependent（P

<

0. 05）. The higher the drug concentration was

the higher the inhibition rate was. Under different concentrations of drug intervention

the inhibition rate from high to low was listed as whole formula group

dissipating blood stasis group

detoxification group

reinforcing healthy qi group. The difference between the every 2 groups was statistically significant（P

<

0. 05）. In the split formula

the dissipating blood stasis group was the best drug group. In the best single-drug screening

the cell inhibition rate from high to low was Semen Vaccariae group

the whole formula group

Radix et Rhizoma Rhei group

Rhizoma Curcumae Longae group（P

<

0. 05）

suggesting that Semen Vaccariae was the best Chinese medicine single drug inhibitor of human prostate cancer C4-2 cell proliferation. There was no significant difference in the inhibition rate between androgen-containing and androgen-free in the whole formula group（P

>

0. 05）

while the inhibition rate of androgen-containing in Semen Vaccariae group was lower than that of androgen-free（P

<

0. 05）. The inhibition rate of androgen-containing and androgen-free in Semen Vaccariae group was higher than that in the corresponding whole formula group（P

<

0. 05）. Conclusion Jianpi Lishi Huayu Recipe has a good inhibitory effect on human prostate cancer C4-2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Among them

Semen Vaccariae is the best single-flavor Chinese medicine. Semen Vaccariae has increased the sensitivity of human prostate cancer C4-2 cells to androgen

which may reverse the androgen-independent growth of human prostate cancer C4-2 cells.