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REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Pharmacology of Anti-Cancer Drugs
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1524182

Reversal of chemotherapy resistance in gastric cancer with traditional Chinese medicine as sensitizer: potential mechanism of action

Provisionally accepted
Chencong Zhou Chencong Zhou Kaihan Wu Kaihan Wu Meng Gu Meng Gu Yushang Yang Yushang Yang Jiatao Tu Jiatao Tu Xuan Huang Xuan Huang *
  • Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Gastric cancer (GC) remains one of the most common types of cancer, ranking fifth among cancerrelated deaths worldwide. Chemotherapy is an effective treatment for advanced GC. However, the development of chemotherapy resistance, which involves the malfunction of several signaling pathways and is the consequence of numerous variables interacting, seriously affects patient treatment and leads to poor clinical outcomes. Therefore, in order to treat GC, it is imperative to find novel medications that will increase chemotherapy sensitivity and reverse chemotherapy resistance. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been extensively researched as an adjuvant medication in recent years. It has been shown to have anticancer benefits and to be crucial in enhancing chemotherapy sensitivity and reducing chemotherapy resistance. Given this, the mechanism of treatment resistance in GC is summed up in this work. The theoretical foundation for TCM as a sensitizer in adjuvant treatment of GC is established by introducing the primary signal pathways and possible targets implicated in improving chemotherapy sensitivity and reversing chemotherapy resistance of GC by TCM and active ingredients.

    Keywords: gastric cancer1, chemoresistance2, traditional Chinese medicine3, sensitizer4, signaling pathway5

    Received: 07 Nov 2024; Accepted: 03 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zhou, Wu, Gu, Yang, Tu and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xuan Huang, Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.