title: Herbal Medicine Offered as an Initiative Therapeutic Option for the Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant cancer and is the third leading cause of death worldwide. Effective treatment of this disease is limited by the complicated molecular mechanism underlying HCC pathogenesis. Thus, therapeutic options for HCC management are urgently needed. Targeting the Wnt/β-catenin, Hedgehog, Notch, and Hippo-YAP signaling pathways in cancer stem cell development has been extensively investigated as an alternative treatment. Herbal medicine has emerged as an initiative therapeutic option for HCC management because of its multi-level, multi-target, and coordinated intervention effects. In this article, we summarized the recent progress and clinical benefits of targeting the above mentioned signaling pathways and using natural products such as herbal medicine formulas to treat HCC. Proving the clinical success of herbal medicine is expected to deepen the knowledge on herbal medicine efficiency and hasten the adoption of new therapies. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine and Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macao, SAR, China.
authors.forename: Shao-Ru
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Guangxi Institute of Traditional Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Guangxi Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Quality Standards, Nanning, 530022, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Cong
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine and Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macao, SAR, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine and Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macao, SAR, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine and Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macao, SAR, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Tao
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D029001:Herbal Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology
keywords: Chinese medicine; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Herbal medicine