ABSTRACT
Cancer is a threat to human health. New treatments for cancer can significantly prolong the survival time of patients， but fail to improve the adverse reactions induced by chemoradiotherapy. Improving patient outcomes still requires the effort of cancer researchers. In recent years， the anti-tumor effects of active components from Chinese herbs have received wide attention. Kaempferol， a flavonoid mainly found in the medicinal plant Kaempferia galanga， can be used to treat obesity， cardiovascular diseases， diabetes and other diseases. It has also exhibited good efficacy in inhibiting the occurrence and development of liver cancer， colon cancer， lung cancer， ovarian cancer， and other malignant tumors. Kaempferol mainly exerts the anti-cancer effect by inducing apoptosis. Specifically， it promotes the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species （ROS） and triggers cell apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. Besides， it is capable of interfering with the cancer cell cycle， causing most cancer cells to arrest in the G2/M phase， and inducing cell autophagy， a programmed cell death， thus inhibiting cell migration and invasion and angiogenesis， synergistically improving chemotherapeutic drug efficacy， and reducing adverse effects. Kaempferol acts on a series of intracellular and extracellular targets to participate in the regulation of tumor cell signaling pathways， involving phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt）， epidermal growth factor receptor （EGFR）， mitogen activated protein kinase （MAPK）， and Wnt signaling pathways， with the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway being most significant. In addition， kaempferol also plays an important regulatory role in tumor epigenetics. This paper reviewed the anti-tumor effect and mechanism of kaempferol， aiming to provide reference for in-depth study on its prevention and treatment of tumor and the development of new anti-tumor drugs.