Asano N. Unveiling the anticancer effect of traditional Chinese herbal medicine. World J Gastroenterol 2024; 30(30): 3625-3627 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i30.3625]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Naoki Asano, MD, PhD, Professor, Division of Carcinogenesis and Senescence Biology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 47-1 Nodayama, Natori 981-1293, Miyagi, Japan. asanon@med.tohoku.ac.jp
Research Domain of This Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
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/
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 14, 2024; 30(30): 3625-3627 Published online Aug 14, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i30.3625
Unveiling the anticancer effect of traditional Chinese herbal medicine
Naoki Asano
Naoki Asano, Division of Carcinogenesis and Senescence Biology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Natori 981-1293, Miyagi, Japan
Naoki Asano, Division of Cancer Stem Cell, Miyagi Cancer Center Research Institute, Natori 981-1293, Miyagi, Japan
Author contributions: Asano N wrote and revised the manuscript.
Supported byJapan Society for the Promotion of Science, No. 23K07347.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Naoki Asano has nothing to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Naoki Asano, MD, PhD, Professor, Division of Carcinogenesis and Senescence Biology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 47-1 Nodayama, Natori 981-1293, Miyagi, Japan. asanon@med.tohoku.ac.jp
Received: July 9, 2024 Revised: July 20, 2024 Accepted: July 23, 2024 Published online: August 14, 2024 Processing time: 31 Days and 9.7 Hours
Abstract
In this issue of World Journal of Gastroenterology, Huang et al reported that Calculus bovis (CB), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, impedes the growth of liver cancers in vivo. Through further in vitro studies, they showed that CB suppressed the M2 polarization of tumor-associated macrophages by suppressing the Wnt signaling pathway, which consequently inhibited the growth of liver cancer. Although the effects of traditional Chinese herbal medicine are often not scientifically proven, Huang et al successfully identified the molecular mechanism involved in the anticancer effect of CB, and it is anticipated that the molecular mechanisms involved in the effects of other traditional Chinese herbal medicines will be scientifically elucidated, as demonstrated in this article.
Core Tip: The scientific evidence for the effectiveness of traditional Chinese herbal medicine has always been questioned. Huang et al successfully identified the molecular mechanism involved in the anticancer effect of Calculus bovis. They showed that this herbal medicine controls the polarization of tumor-associated macrophages by regulating Wnt signaling. The scientific verification of other traditional medicines is awaited.
