Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is the key component of healthcare in China for the past 5000 years. It has extensively influenced the healthcare industry not only in China but also in surrounding countries. Usage of CHM to treat human diseases especially in cancer is keep growing. Furthermore, millions of monies were invested to study the role of CHM in cancer cure. In the last decade, researchers together with CHM practitioners were trying to bridge the gap to understand each others perspective to find effectiveness of CHM in treating cancer. The mechanism of CHM in treating cancer is best understood via the theory of cancer hallmark proposed by Hanahan & Weinberg that describes functional, molecular and biological traits of specific cancer. The eight hallmarks of cancer are inhibiting proliferative signaling, inducing growth suppressors, inducing cell death, inhibiting replicative immortality, anti-angiogenesis, inhibition of invasion and metastasis, energy metabolism and immune destructive. The information is extracted from electronic resources (PubMed, Wiley, Springer and Science Direct). This article reviews the anti-tumour activity of CHM against various cancers through each of the 8 cancer hallmarks. It is hoped that this article would provide essential knowledge in cancer treatment by CHM.
Key words: Chinese herbal medicine, cancer, anti-tumour, cancer hallmark
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