Guest Editors
Chen-Huan Yu, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China. yuchenhuan2002@163.com
Meng Yang, University of California San Diego, San Diego, USA. yang_m21@yahoo.com
Jia-Qi He, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China. hejiaqi7788@sina.com
Summary
Despite the continuous progress of science and technology, cancer remains one of the serious diseases threatening human life and health. Over the last decade, novel synthetic anticancer agents have not been succeeded as presumed in current clinical use. Cancer comprises a group of various diseases and involves uncontrolled multiplication and division of abnormal cells, which can form malignant growths and divert signaling pathways. Cancer cells lose many of the regulatory functions that non-cancerous cells exhibit and become susceptible to chemotherapeutic drugs that are not devoid of their intrinsic side effects. Toxicities such as myelotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, genotoxicity, pulmonary toxicity, cutaneous toxicity, and vasospastic are the major side-effects for common anticancer drugs such as 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and bleomycin are well documented. There is, therefore, a need to develop new, effective, safer, and more affordable anticancer drugs from alternative sources.
Herbal active ingredients as a replacement for synthetic chemopreventive agents provide a potential for developing novel chemical entities to thwart cancer progression, many of which—such as vinblastine, vincristine, taxol, and camptothecin—have already been highlighted as having remarkable anticancer properties. There is also increasing evidence for herbal active ingredients' potential to act as inhibitors of various stages of tumorigenesis and associated inflammatory processes, underlining the importance of these products in cancer prevention. In addition to this, phytochemicals are considered suitable candidates for anticancer drug development due to their pleiotropic actions on target locations with multiple scenarios/outcomes. Therefore, research into plant products may contribute to the development of effective and novel alternative therapeutics in the search for less toxic, eco-friendly, low-cost, fast, and cancer treatment drugs.
This Special Issue aims to collect original research and review articles regarding research into herbal active ingredients in cancer prevention.
Potential topics include but are not limited to the followings:
• Herbal active ingredients to prevent drug resistance in cancer chemotherapy
• Synergistic effects of herbal active ingredients and immunotherapy in cancer therapy
• The mechanisms of natural compounds targeting cancer stem cells
• Targeting non-coding RNA by herbal active ingredients for cancer therapy
• Prospects and paradigms of herbal active ingredients mediated cancer treatment
• Biomarkers targeted for plant-derived anticancer drug development
• Functional foods for suppressing cancer cells
• Proteomic profiles of herbal active ingredients in cancer treatment
Keywords
Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tumor Resistance, Synergistic Effects, Immunomodulation, Anti-Inflammatory Effects, Cancer Stem Cells, Tumor Microenvironment
Published Papers
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Open Access
ARTICLE
The effect of natural products combination on MCF-7 cells exceeds tamoxifen therapeutic dose effects in vitro
ZEINAB KLAAB, AZIZA HASSAN, JAWAHER ALBAQAMI, FAIZAH A. ALMALKI
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.4, pp. 891-904, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.026556
（This article belongs to this Special Issue:
Herbal Active Ingredients: Potential for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer)
Abstract Cancer remains to be one of the most severe sicknesses globally. Cases have kept rising over the years. Breast cancer (BC), which is among the leading types of cancers and predominantly affects women, is the second leading cause of cancer mortality. Researchers have developed interventions over the years; however, the BC survival rate has not improved since the 1980s. This has created the need for novel drug interventions that would manage and treat BC more effectively. This study focused on using a combination of natural product extracts such as phytoestrogen (
Ziziphus jujube) and Tannin nanoparticles (NP99) together, which we have…
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Open Access
ARTICLE
Schisandrin B exerts anticancer effects on human gastric cancer cells through ROS-mediated MAPK, STAT3, and NF-κB pathways
TIANZHU LI, YU ZHANG, TONG ZHANG, YANNAN LI, HUI XUE, JINGLONG CAO, WENSHUANG HOU, YINGHUA LUO, CHENGHAO JIN,
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.1, pp. 195-204, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.025593
（This article belongs to this Special Issue:
Herbal Active Ingredients: Potential for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer)
Abstract Schisandrin B (Sch B) is a monomer with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects, which are isolated from the
plant
Schisandra chinensis (Turcz) Baillon. We investigated the anti-gastric cancer (GC) effects of Sch B and its
underlying molecular mechanisms. The Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was used to determine the effects of Sch B on the
viability of GC and normal cell lines. Hoechst/propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry were used to assess the
apoptosis induction of Sch B. Western blotting was used to evaluate the effects of Sch B on downstream apoptotic
proteins. The DCFH-DA fluorescent probe was used to assess the…
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Open Access
ARTICLE
Magnesium Demethylcantharidate induces apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells via ER stress
XINTING ZHU, MENG YE, KELAN FANG, FANG LIU, JING HUI, MEICHEN LIU, XIAOFEI LI, RONG YAN, Yun Liu
BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.12, pp. 2595-2600, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.025468
（This article belongs to this Special Issue:
Herbal Active Ingredients: Potential for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer)
Abstract Cantharidin (CTD) is a bioactive ingredient isolated from
Cantharis vesicatoria (blister beetles), which has potential therapeutic value as an anticancer agent. Magnesium Demethylcantharidate (MDC) is a recently developed derivative of Cantharidin (CTD), and previous studies have illustrated its excellent anticancer activity on HCC cells. However, the effect and mechanism of MDC remains unclear and need to be further studied. In particular, whether MDC can cause ER stress in HCC is still unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)-related proteins were changed in SMMC-7721 and Bel-7402 cells after being exposed to MDC. Moreover, we found that MDC…
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