Title:The Gut Microbiota and Traditional Chinese Medicine: A New Clinical Frontier on Cancer
Volume: 22
Issue: 11
Author(s): Yan-Zhen Chen, Meng-Yun Yuan, Ya Ling Chen, Xingxing Zhang, Xin-Tian Xu, Shen-Lin Liu, Xi Zou, Jia-Lei Tao, Yong-Hu Qiang, Jian Wu*Qing-Min Sun*
Affiliation:
- Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029,China
- Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029,China
Keywords:
Traditional Chinese Medicine, gut microbiota, cancer, metabolites, immunity, inflammation.
Abstract: Gut microbiota is a complex microecosystem, which is called the second genome of the
human body. Herbal medicine can balance tumor-suppressing bacteria and tumor-promoting bacteria
and exert its anti-cancer effect by regulating gut microbiota. Traditional Chinese medicine
(TCM) has a history of thousands of years in prevention and treatment of diseases in China. In recent
decades, TCM has been shown to have an obvious advantage in prolonging the survival time
and improving the living quality of patients with cancer. Notably, gut microbiota has become a
new pathway to understanding TCM. In this review, we will focus on gut microbiota and tumor
progression, especially the diversity, functionality and metabolites of gut microbiota affected by
TCM in various cancer. We will also discuss the potential mechanism of gut microbiota for exploring
TCM in anti-cancer effect. This article aims to comprehensively review the anti-cancer research
of TCM by regulating gut microbiota, and address future perspectives and challenges of gut
microbiota in TCM intervention for cancer.
