Specific Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Personalized Usage of Herbal Medicines for Anti-Tumor Therapeutics

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Background

Approximately 50% of the first-line used drugs and 80% of the leading compounds for cancer treatment are derived from herbal medicines. Herbal medicines are considered a vital source for developing clinical agents, especially for anti-tumor therapeutics. The most predominant advantage of herbal medicines is the multiple compounds/effects involved. Numerous studies have focused on the pro-apoptotic and cytotoxic effects of herbal medicines and their constituents, but mostly this research has not resulted in improved therapeutic options. Although there is both empirical and a much more limited clinical level of evidence for specific preparations' effectiveness, the precise and specific molecular mechanisms underlying this remains unclear.

After molecular classifying the specific subtypes of each cancer, individual cancer patients received precision medicines according to their unique characteristics at molecular pharmacological markers, pathological characteristics, and were subjected to personalized drug-related effectiveness and toxicity level. However, regarding the multiple pharmacological effects exerted by herbal medicines, the major challenge is how to define the precise target for each anti-tumor component derived from herbal medicines and how to determine to which patients this compound (or this mixture) will benefit most in terms of therapeutic outcomes.

Fortunately, during the last decades, multi-omics sequencing has laid a foundation for exploring the specific and unique mechanisms of certain anti-tumor herbal medicines, especially for determining the specific or predominant target for each potential compound with anti-tumor effectiveness. However, associated with this great opportunity, some further challenges were also raised:

1. Herbal medicine-specific targets need to be identified: Numerous previous studies indicated that, for example, a single herbal medicine could exert significant anti-tumor effects via influencing multiple pathways, but unfortunately, often a herbal medicine only exerts the strongest pharmacological effects in certain types of cancers. So, the first challenge is to select and define the specific targets for certain herbal medicines during the treatment of specific types of cancer.

2. Individualized biomarkers need to be characterized: During tumorigenesis, the pathological biomarkers vary based on individual characteristics, environmental exposure, and stage differentiation. To better understand the personalized effects and toxicity of herbal medicines, precise pathological biomarkers during tumor progression need to be identified and characterized.

3. The most beneficial combination of chemotherapy and certain herbal medicine in clinics need more precise determination: Approximately 60% of the oncological clinical trials related to herbal medicines were conducted simultaneously with chemotherapies, but, for certain chemotherapeutic agents, it remains unclear what is the most effective herbal medicine that can reduce its toxicity while enhancing its efficacy. Meanwhile, for certain herbal medicines, although they could be used as an alternative agent with many chemotherapies, the most effective combination in clinics remains unrevealed.


In this Research Topic, we welcome manuscripts on the following subtopics, but not limited to:

• Specific mechanisms of certain herbal medicines and their metabolites. This kind of manuscript needs to clearly demonstrate the most beneficial cancer type exposed to certain herbal medicines or their bioactive compounds. Manuscripts need also to critically assess the specific proteins or pathways these herbal medicines or active compounds could be targetting.

• Discovery of precise or individualized biomarkers for certain types of cancer in the context of herbal medicine/natural product research. The subjects for target screening could be mice, rats, or individual patients using certain herbal medicine or herbal mixture for treatments. Transgenic animal models could also be included.

• Reports of herbal medicine-based clinical trials comparing the clinical effectiveness of herbal medicines combined with 2 or 3 chemotherapies.


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All the manuscripts submitted to this project will be peer-reviewed and need to fully comply with the Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology (you can freely download the full version here).

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Keywords: Personalized traditional medicine, herbal medicines, clinical trials, multi-omics, specific molecular mechanisms, Anti-tumor therapeutics, Anti-Cancer

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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