title: Preventive and therapeutic role of traditional Chinese herbal medicine in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies worldwide. The clinical management of HCC remains a substantial challenge. Although surgical resection of tumor tissues seems promising, a high recurrence and/or metastasis rate accounting for disease-related death has led to an urgent need for improved postsurgical preventive/therapeutic clinical intervention. Developing advanced target-therapy agents such as sorafenib appears to be the only effective clinical intervention for patients with HCC to date, but only limited trials have been conducted in this regard. Because of their enhanced preventive/therapeutic effects, traditional Chinese herbal medicine (CHM)-derived compounds are considered suitable agents for HCC treatment. The CHM-derived compounds also possess multilevel, multitarget, and coordinated intervention effects, making them ideal candidates for inhibition of tumor progression and HCC metastasis. This article reviews the anticancer activity of various CHMs with the hope of providing a better understanding of how to best use CHM for HCC treatment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei City Hospital (Renai Branch), Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Institute of Traditional Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Chin-Tsung
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Ting
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Department of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Department of Education and Research, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Wan-Chun
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Department of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Chang-Yi
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Traditional Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Department of Education and Research, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: A2173@tepch.gov.tw.
authors.forename: Tung-Hu
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D045784:Abietanes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D044182:Benzylisoquinolines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001599:Berberine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003474:Curcumin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D000077185:Resveratrol; D031364:Scutellaria baicalensis; D013267:Stilbenes / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D045784:Abietanes; D044182:Benzylisoquinolines; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D013267:Stilbenes; C021751:tanshinone; D001599:Berberine; C009438:tetrandrine; D003474:Curcumin; D000077185:Resveratrol
keywords: Chinese herbal medicine; anticancer therapy; chemoprevention; hepatocellular carcinoma