Traditional Chinese Medicine Regulates Related Signaling Pathways to Prevent and Control Breast Cancer and Precancerous Lesions： A Review
10.13422/j.cnki.syfjx.20251128
- VernacularTitle:中医药调控相关信号通路防治乳腺癌及癌前病变研究进展
- Author:
Yifei ZENG
1
;
Di ZHAO
1
;
Junyue WANG
1
;
Mengjie WANG
1
;
Yubo GUO
1
;
Yu ZHOU
1
;
Dongxiao ZHANG
1
;
Wenjie ZHAO
1
Author Information
1. Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine， Capital Medical University， Beijing 100010，China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
breast cancer;
precancerous lesions;
signaling pathway;
mechanism;
review
- From:
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae
2026;32(5):290-301
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Breast cancer has become the malignant tumor with the highest incidence rate among women， seriously threatening the life and health of women all over the world. The pathogenic factors and development mechanisms of breast cancer are complex and diverse. The development of breast cells from ordinary hyperplasia to atypical hyperplasia， and from pre-cancerous lesions to cancerous lesions， is a long-term progressive process. Therefore， early screening and prevention of breast cancer is particularly important. Western medicine has a relatively mature treatment program for breast cancer， which is mainly based on surgery and systemic treatment， whereas the ensuing complications and adverse reactions often bring a heavy burden to patients. For the precancerous lesions of breast cancer， surgery is also the mainstay of treatment. In recent years， traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has increasingly highlighted its advantages in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer. Increasing studies have shown that in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer and pre-cancerous lesions， TCM compound prescriptions， single herbs or herb pairs， and active components are able to regulate a variety of intracellular signaling pathways through multi-targets to inhibit the proliferation and invasion， promote the apoptosis and autophagy of tumor cells， and regulate the cell cycle and the immune microenvironment， thus exerting anti-tumor effects. At the same time， they can significantly attenuate the toxic side effects of radiotherapy and drug resistance of patients. However， the specific mechanisms of TCM in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer and precancerous lesions have not been fully clarified. The available studies are tanglesome regarding the TCM inhibition of tumor development through the regulation of classical signaling pathways such as phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt）/mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR）， Wnt/β-catenin， and Notch， which still need to be verified by a large number of clinical and experimental studies. Therefore， this paper reviews the research progress in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer and precancerous lesions by TCM through interfering with the relevant signaling pathways in recent years， aiming to summarize the possible mechanisms of TCM in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer and provide references for subsequent studies.
