Abstract
Recently, reactive oxygen species (ROS), a class of highly bioactive molecules, have been extensively studied in cancers. Cancer cells typically exhibit higher levels of basal ROS than normal cells, primarily due to their increased metabolism, oncogene activation, and mitochondrial dysfunction. This moderate increase in ROS levels facilitates cancer initiation, development, and progression; however, excessive ROS concentrations can lead to various types of cell death. Therefore, therapeutic strategies that either increase intracellular ROS to toxic levels or, conversely, decrease the levels of ROS may be effective in treating cancers via ROS regulation. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is a major type of natural medicine and has greatly contributed to human health. CHMs have been increasingly used for adjuvant clinical treatment of tumors. Although their mechanism of action is unclear, CHMs can execute a variety of anticancer effects by regulating intracellular ROS. In this review, we summarize the dual roles of ROS in cancers, present a comprehensive analysis of and update the role of CHM—especially its active compounds and ingredients—in the prevention and treatment of cancers via ROS regulation and emphasize precautions and strategies for the use of CHM in future research and clinical trials.
Highlights
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the oxidative stress that they produce have historically been considered mutagenic and carcinogenic because they can damage macromolecules such as DNA, lipids, and proteins, leading to genomic instability and changes in cell growth [1, 2]
We selected and summarized the original researches of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) based on ROS regulation with relatively precise molecular mechanisms
CHM plays a vital role in the prevention and treatment of tumor initiation, development, and progression
Summary
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the oxidative stress that they produce have historically been considered mutagenic and carcinogenic because they can damage macromolecules such as DNA, lipids, and proteins, leading to genomic instability and changes in cell growth [1, 2]. Many clinical studies have shown that antioxidant supplements do not reduce the risk of cancer or prevent tumor growth, sometimes even exerting the opposite effects [3, 4]. The protumorigenic effect of antioxidants, as well as their promotion of tumor distant metastasis, was confirmed in mouse models of cancer [5, 6]. This finding emphasized the positive role of ROS in tumor inhibition from the opposite perspective. Many active compounds and ingredients in CHM can exert multiple antitumor effects accompanied by changes in cellular ROS. We comprehensively reviewed the dual roles of ROS in cancers and the ROS-mediated roles of CHM in cancer progression and treatment
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