title: Anticancer Properties of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer is a systemic disease. Cancer occurrence is associated with several factors, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis, tumor microenvironment and immune system. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used for thousands of years in China for its anti-cancer therapeutic effect. The advantage of using TCM is related to its action on multiple signaling pathways and molecular targets related to cancer, whilst causing few adverse effects.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The review focuses on the most recent studies on TCM through examples that demonstrate the anticancer effects and the mechanisms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The review shows a large number of works which demonstrated that TCM is useful in the treatment of various types of cancers through different mechanisms of action. The results indicate that TCM exerts its anticancer effects through apoptosis induction, proliferation inhibition, metastasis suppression, multidrug resistance reversal and immune function regulation. Moreover, TCM can improve patients' quality of life. The advantage of TCM suggests that TCM may represent a promising therapeutic approach for patients with diverse cancers.
authors.affiliation: Academy of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122. China.
authors.forename: Zhaokun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Academy of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou 350122. China.
authors.forename: Zijun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Academy of Integrative Medicine, Fujian Key Laboratory of Integrative Medicine on Geriatrics, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, P.O. Box: 350122, 1 Qiuyang Road, Minhou Shangjie, Fuzhou, Fujian. China.
authors.forename: Jiumao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal
keywords: Traditional Chinese medicine; cancer; extract; herbal; mechanism; pathway