1.Pharmacological Mechanism of Traditonal Chinese Medicine in Prevention and Treatment of Breast Cancer: A Review
Xiaoli WEN ; Fangyan CAI ; Biting CHENG ; Xiang ZHANG ; Hongning LIU
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(22):252-263
Breast cancer, as one of the major cancers threatening women's health globally, is characterized by high aggressiveness, high malignancy, and poor prognosis. In 2022, according to the World Health Organization, breast cancer ranked second in the incidence of female cancers globally, accounting for 11.6% of all new cancer cases. Western medical doctors mainly use surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, endocrine therapy, and molecular targeted therapy to treat breast cancer, which can effectively improve the recurrence rate and death rate of breast cancer patients and prolong the survival period of patients. However, its treatment process is often accompanied by a series of side effects, which bring challenges to patients' quality of life. However, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has demonstrated significant therapeutic effects in inhibiting the proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer cells, reducing toxic side effects produced by chemotherapy, and improving patients' survival rate and quality of life. It is therefore particularly necessary to investigate the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of TCM in breast cancer treatment. The authors combed the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of the etiology and pathogenesis of breast cancer, identification and treatment of breast cancer, TCM compound, TCM single medicine, TCM monomer, and external treatment of TCM to prevent and control breast cancer and found that TCM has a therapeutic effect on breast cancer. It can play a role in increasing the effectiveness, reducing the toxicity, and alleviating the adverse reactions. It can inhibit breast cancer cell proliferation, cell cycle, migration, invasion, immune escape, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), aerobic glycolysis, mitochondrial biosynthesis, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, reduce drug resistance, promote apoptosis, ferroptosis, cell autophagy, and regulate the tumor immune microenvironment by regulating signaling pathways. This paper aims to provide new ideas and methods for experimental research and clinical treatment of breast cancer.
2.Traditional Chinese Medicine Regulates Metabolic Reprogramming to Treat Lung Cancer: A Review
Xiaoli WEN ; Fangyan CAI ; Ling LIU ; Si SHAN ; Xiang ZHANG ; Hongning LIU
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(24):269-279
Lung cancer has the highest morbidity and mortality rate among all cancers. Because of the complex pathogenesis, there are limitations in the common Western medicine treatment methods. Clinical and experimental studies have proved that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can not only effectively treat lung cancer and alleviate the clinical symptoms of cancer patients but also reduce the adverse reactions and complications caused by surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy to improve the quality of life of the patients. The biological behaviors of lung cancer cells, such as proliferation, invasion, and metastasis, are closely related to their metabolic reprogramming. Metabolic reprogramming in lung cancer involves a series of metabolic changes such as increased glucose uptake and consumption, enhanced glycolysis, increased amino acid uptake and catabolism, and enhanced lipid and protein synthesis. Studies have reported that TCM active components, extracts, and compound prescriptions can effectively inhibit the biological behaviors of lung cancer by regulating metabolic reprogramming. Therefore, this paper reviews the pharmacological mechanisms of TCM active components, extracts, and compound prescriptions in regulating metabolic reprogramming of lung cancer, with the aim of providing a new way of thinking for the treatment of lung cancer by TCM regulation of metabolic reprogramming of lung cancer cells. The available studies suggest that TCM mainly inhibits the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK)/c-Myc, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and hypoxia-inducible factor-α (HIF-1α) pathways. Furthermore, the expression of monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4), glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), phosphofructokinase 1 (PFK1), pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1), pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2), hexokinase (HK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) are inhibited. In this way, TCM inhibits the glucose uptake by lung cancer cells and glycolysis in lung cancer cells to reduce the energy metabolism of tumor cells, ultimately achieving the therapeutic effect on lung cancer.

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