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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 7, 2015; 21(37): 10598-10603
Published online Oct 7, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i37.10598
Does herbal medicine reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma?
Yasushi Rino, Norio Yukawa, Naoto Yamamoto
Yasushi Rino, Norio Yukawa, Naoto Yamamoto, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan
Author contributions: Rino Y, Yukawa N and Yamamoto N contributed equally to this work; Rino Y, Yukawa N and Yamamoto N designed and wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interests regarding the present work.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Yasushi Rino, MD, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, 3-9, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan. rino@med.yokohama-cu.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-45-7872645 Fax: +81-45-7860226
Received: April 5, 2015
Peer-review started: April 7, 2015
First decision: June 2, 2015
Revised: June 15, 2015
Accepted: August 25, 2015
Article in press: August 25, 2015
Published online: October 7, 2015
Processing time: 176 Days and 7.2 Hours
Abstract

Many herbal medicines are effective anti-inflammatory agents and may therefore suppress the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recently, treatment with a single-tablet regimen containing ledipasvir and sofosbuvir resulted in high rates of sustained virologic response among patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection who did not respond to prior interferon-based treatment. Patients with chronic hepatitis C are expected to receive this treatment worldwide. However, many patients have hepatitis-like fatty liver and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. A strategy to prevent the development of HCC in this subgroup of patients is urgently required. Whether herbal medicines can suppress the development of HCC remains to be established. However, herbal medicines are effective anti-inflammatory agents and may inhibit the development of HCC. Clinical trials exploring the effectiveness of herbal medicines in the prevention and treatment of HCC are therefore warranted. The current lack of knowledge and of educational programs is a barrier to increasing the use of potentially effective herbal medicines and performing prospective clinical trials.

Keywords: Herbal medicine; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Anti-inflammatory; Hepatocellular carcinoma prevention; Chronic hepatitis

Core tip: Many herbal medicines are effective anti-inflammatory agents and may suppress the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients with chronic hepatitis C generally receive ledipasvir and sofosbuvir worldwide. However, many patients have hepatitis-like fatty liver and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. A strategy to prevent the development of HCC is urgently required for this subgroup of patients. Future research needs to explore the effectiveness of herbal medicines in preventing and treating HCC. The current lack of knowledge and of educational programs is a barrier to increasing the use of potentially effective herbal medicines and performing prospective clinical trials.