title: Traditional Chinese medicine: a treasured natural resource of anticancer drug research and development.
abstract: To discover and develop novel natural compounds, active ingredients, single herbs and combination formulas or prescriptions in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with therapeutic selectivity that can preferentially kill cancer cells and inhibit the amplification of cancer without significant toxicity is an important area in cancer therapy. A lot of valuable TCMs were applied as alternative or complementary medicines in the United States and Europe. But these TCMs, as one of the main natural resources, were widely used to research and develop new drugs in Asia. In TCMs, some specific herbs, animals, minerals and combination formulas were recorded and exploited due to their active ingredients and specific natural compounds with antitumor activities. The article focused on the antitumor properties of natural compounds and combination formulas or prescriptions in TCMs, described its influence on tumor progression, angiogenesis, metastasis, and revealed its mechanisms of antitumor and inhibitory action. Among the nature compounds, triptolide, berberine, matrine, oxymatrine, kurarinone and deoxypodophyllotoxin (DPT) with specific molecular structures have been separated, purified, and evaluated their antitumor properties in vitro and in vivo. Cancer is a multifactorial and multistep disease, so the treatment effect of combination formulas and prescriptions in TCMs involving multi-targets and multi-signal pathways on tumor may be superior than that of agents targeting a single molecular target alone. Shi Quan Da Bu Tang and Yanshu injection, as well known combination formulas and prescriptions in TCMs, have shown an excellent therapeutic effect on cancer.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, Shandong 264003, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Chao-Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xian-Yong
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Chun-Hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000664:Amphibian Venoms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D001599:Berberine / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004224:Diterpenes / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004338:Drug Combinations; D055808:Drug Discovery; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004852:Epoxy Compounds / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D010616:Phenanthrenes / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D011034:Podophyllotoxin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011807:Quinolizines / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000093842:Matrines
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D000664:Amphibian Venoms; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D004224:Diterpenes; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D004852:Epoxy Compounds; D005419:Flavonoids; D010616:Phenanthrenes; D011807:Quinolizines; C545813:huachansu; C411319:kurarinone; D001599:Berberine; C001899:triptolide; C014451:deoxypodophyllotoxin; C037573:oxymatrine; D011034:Podophyllotoxin; D000093842:Matrines