Treatment of Liver Cancer by Intervening TGF-β Signaling Pathway with Traditional Chinese Medicine： A Review
10.13422/j.cnki.syfjx.20251323
- VernacularTitle:中医药干预TGF-β信号通路治疗肝癌的研究进展
- Author:
Hao CHENG
1
;
Haohao GUO
2
;
Jun SUN
1
;
Juan XUE
3
;
Chunyan JI
3
;
Shiyi LI
1
;
Yuxue DING
1
;
Huaqiang YUE
1
Author Information
1. First Clinical College，Hubei University of Chinese Medicine，Wuhan 430065，China
2. Gansu University of Chinese Medicine，Lanzhou 730000，China
3. Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese & Western Medicine，Wuhan 430015，China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
liver cancer;
transforming growth factor-β （TGF-β）;
signaling pathway;
traditional Chinese medicine;
research progress
- From:
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae
2026;32(8):318-326
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Liver cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the digestive system and ranks sixth among newly diagnosed malignant tumors worldwide. Transforming growth factor-β （TGF-β） regulates cell differentiation， proliferation， apoptosis， and other physiological and pathological mechanisms and exerts cancer-suppressive and pro-cancerous dual effects in the process of tumor development. In recent years， with the continuous exploration of the mechanism of liver cancer， it has been found that the conversion of the cancer-suppressive effect into a pro-cancerous effect of this pathway plays a key role in the development of liver cancer. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） provides a unique perspective for the classification， diagnosis， and treatment of liver cancer with its comprehensive regulatory effects of multi-components， multi-targets， and multi-pathways. This paper summarized that the cancer-suppressive mechanisms of the TGF-β signaling pathway included promoting cancer cell cycle arrest， apoptosis， autophagy， et al， while the pro-cancerous mechanisms included promoting cancer cell proliferation， invasion and metastasis， immunosuppression， angiogenesis， et al. The TCM compounds intervening this pathway were sorted out， including Jianpi Huayu compound， Fuyang Baoyuan compound， Yipi Yanggan compound， Fuzheng Jiedu compound， compound Astragalus and Salvia， Biejia Jianwan， Dahuang Zhechong pill， and Qingxiang powder. The single TCMs mainly included Schizocapsa plantaginea， Dendrobii Caulis， Gleditsia sinensis， and Dracaena cochinchinensis. The active ingredients of TCM are mainly concentrated on flavonoids， alkaloids， glycosides， phenolics， terpenoids， polysaccharides， and other kinds of compounds. At the same time， it summarized that the liver cancer inhibition mechanism of TCM by regulating this pathway mainly included promoting apoptosis of liver cancer cells， blocking the cell cycle， and inhibiting liver cancer cell proliferation， migration， invasion， angiogenesis， immune escape， etc. The mechanism aims to give full play to the advantages of TCM and precisely regulate the TGF-β signal， thereby exerting positive anti-tumor effects， opening up a new direction for the precise targeted treatment of liver cancer， and providing a scientific basis and a new strategy for the application of TCM in the treatment of liver cancer.
