About this Research Topic

Background

Tumor heterogeneity is one of the characteristics of malignant tumors. It makes differences in tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, drug sensitivity, and prognosis. Tumor heterogeneity is a common phenomenon in tumors. Drug resistance caused by it makes treatment difficult. Metastasis is a multi-stage process. It has been reported that more than 90% of tumor patients died because of distant target organ metastasis. It led to poor treatment effects and poor survival. Drug resistance hinders the therapeutic effect. It is necessary to understand the mechanisms of drug resistance. In recent years, studies have shown that traditional medicine has the characteristics of diversification, complex mechanisms in vivo, multiple targets, high efficiency, and low toxicity. Some specific traditional medicine preparations combined with chemotherapeutic drugs have reported a synergistic anticancer effect reversing drug resistance and inhibiting cancer cell proliferation or metastasis. There are more and more active ingredients found in traditional medicine that are aimed at tumor heterogeneity, metastasis, and drug resistance.

As a group of systemic diseases, malignant tumors are hard to cure using surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy alone, or even a combination of all three. This is the key in tumor treatment to overcome the cycle of treatment effectiveness - drug resistance -retreatment - resistance. Nontumour cells in the tumor microenvironment regulated the response of tumor cells to chemotherapy drugs, enhanced proliferation, invasion, and migration, and promoted immune escape and angiogenesis. These mechanisms should be further clarified in future research. Chemotherapy resistance is the main cause of relapses and mortality. Many studies on multidrug resistance reversal agents have been carried out. However, most reversal agents had side effects and couldn’t be used in the clinic. Traditional medicine can regulate the internal environment, improve immune function effectively, reduce the side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and promote cell differentiation. In this research topic, we would like to create a forum to discuss the treatment strategies of traditional medicine and its active ingredients for tumor heterogeneity, inhibition of tumor metastasis, and reversal of chemoresistance.

We welcome studies using Interdisciplinary research methods clarifying the mechanism of action of traditional medicines and metabolites derived from them focusing on tumor heterogeneity, metastasis, or chemoresistance and contributing to an understanding of the molecular mechanisms of action. The scope of contributions includes but is not limited to any one or more of the following topics:
• Research progress of tumor heterogeneity and its traditional medicines intervention
• Monocytoomics reveals the mechanism of traditional medicines-assisted chemotherapy to overcome tumor heterogeneity
• Study on tumor heterogeneity and the pharmacological effect of traditional medicines from methylation level
• Reveal the factors of primary tumor metastasis and explore the regulatory effect of traditional medicines
• Research on the mechanisms of disseminated tumor cells (DTC) to circulating tumor cells (CTC) and the pharmacology of traditional medicines
• Screen tumor metastasis-associated targets of traditional medicines from EMT and tumor microenvironment, and reveal their pharmacological mechanisms
• Research progress in chemoresistance, its molecular mechanisms, and the reduction by traditional medicines
• The role of immune cell remodeling, DNA damage repair, metabolic reprogramming, epigenetic reprogramming in tumor resistance, and the pharmacological effects of traditional medicines
• Research on the regulatory mechanisms of traditional medicines on chemoresistance-associated signal pathways and cancer stem cells.

All the manuscripts submitted to this project need to fully comply with the Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology (you can freely download the full version here). Importantly, please ascertain that the ethnopharmacological context is clearly described (pillar 3d) and that the material investigated is characterised in detail (pillars 2 a and b; https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2022.953205/abstract)

Keywords: natural active products, traditional medicine, tumour heterogeneity, metastasis, chemoresistance

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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