title: Advances in Synergistic Combinations of Chinese Herbal Medicine for the Treatment of Cancer.
abstract: The complex pathology of cancer development requires correspondingly complex treatments. The traditional application of individual single-target drugs fails to sufficiently treat cancer with durable therapeutic effects and tolerable adverse events. Therefore, synergistic combinations of drugs represent a promising way to enhance efficacy, overcome toxicity and optimize safety. Chinese Herbal Medicines (CHMs) have long been used as such synergistic combinations. Therefore, we summarized the synergistic combinations of CHMs used in the treatment of cancer and their roles in chemotherapy in terms of enhancing efficacy, reducing side effects, immune modulation, as well as abrogating drug resistance. Our conclusions support the development of further science-based holistic modalities for cancer care.
authors.forename: Xue-Qing
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Research Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine Complexity System, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China. shibingsu07@163.com.
authors.forename: Shi-Bing
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Su
mesh_terms: D004357:Drug Synergism; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal