Cancer remains one of the most life-threatening diseases worldwide. Cancer therapies encompass surgical removal of malignant tumors, as well as the utilization of chemotherapeutic or targeted therapeutic drugs to directly eliminate cancer cells, among other approaches. The emergence and success of cancer immunotherapy have demonstrated its potential in defeating cancer by reactivating or enhancing the body’s natural anti-cancer activities.

Herbal medicine has long been employed as an adjuvant therapy for cancer. According to the fundamental theory of herbal medicine, herbs primarily function by improving the “normal” factors of the human body to combat cancer, rather than directly killing cancer cells. It is believed that the non-malignant components within the tissue microenvironment serve as crucial targets for herbal medicine when dealing with cancers. However, the mechanisms by which herbal medicine suppresses cancer progression through the regulation of interactions between cancer cells and non-cancer cells remain poorly understood.

Considerable evidence has shown that herbal medicine can inhibit cancer progression by enhancing adaptive immune responses against cancer. Nonetheless, the precise roles of interactions between tumor cells and adjacent non-cancer cells in the microenvironment, as mediators of the anti-cancer actions of herbal medicine, have yet to be defined. In order to explore how herbal medicine can impede cancer development by modulating the crosstalk between tumor cells and adjacent non-malignant cells such as vascular endothelial cells, fibroblasts, macrophages, and neutrophils, we are opening up this Research Topic.

We invite authors to submit review articles or original research that focus on examining the roles and detailed mechanisms of herbal medicine in suppressing cancer progression through modulating the crosstalk between tumor cells and adjacent non-malignant cells. We particularly encourage authors to submit studies that employ new methods or experimental systems to objectively and quantitatively depict cell crosstalk.

The subtopics to be covered include, but are not limited to:

• Investigating the roles of cell interactions between cancer cells and adjacent non-malignant cells (e.g., endothelial cells, fibroblast cells, and macrophages) in modulating cancer progression and the therapeutic actions of specific herbal medicine.
• Exploring novel methods or experimental systems to evaluate the roles of cell interactions in regulating cancer development, and their applications in pharmacological studies of herbal medicine.
• High-quality literature reviews examining the anti-cancer actions of herbal medicine through the regulation of interactions between cancer cells and adjacent non-malignant cells (e.g., endothelial cells, fibroblast cells, and macrophages).

Please note the following:

1) All studies must use a therapeutically realistic dose level, and the data must be reported on the basis of the amount of extract administered. Single-dose studies are not accepted unless they focus on a species/compound not yet studied in detail and can be justified on specific ethical grounds (e.g. the 4R rule - Reduce, refine, replace – responsibility, see the Four Pillars).

2) A detailed chemical profile of the extract and pharmacognostic definition of the botanical drugs used is essential, as defined in the ConPhyMP statement 2022 (Front. Pharmacol. 13:953205.)

3) 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 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 characterized in detail (pillars 2 a and b).

4) Traditional context - The traditional context must be described in the introduction and supported with bibliographical primary references (see also Section 3 esp. 3d - traditional medicinal preparations and their assessment). This may be based on modern uses of a plant in general healthcare.

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Frontiers in Pharmacology

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