Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treatment of Lymphatic Metastasis of Gastric Cancer / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

The incidence and mortality of gastric cancer are higher among all kinds of tumors, and the number of deaths due to gastric cancer in China is as high as 498 000.Because the pathogenesis of early gastric cancer is not obvious, most patients who have been treated in hospitals are already in middle and advanced stages of gastric cancer, which brings a heavy burden to families and the society. The postoperative survival of patients of advanced gastric cancer is significantly lower than those of early gastric cancer. The most important reason is lymphatic metastasis of gastric cancer. Lymphatic metastasis is the main metastasis pathway of gastric cancer. The lymphatic metastasis rate of progressive gastric cancer is as high as 70%, and early gastric cancer can also have lymphatic metastasis. The lymph node metastasis rate of gastric cancer was positively correlated with the infiltration depth of the tumor. In addition to surgical resection, lymphatic chemotherapy and molecular targeted therapies, traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) has also played an important role due to the advantages of a low toxicity, good therapeutic effect and low price. According to the theory of TCM, the occurrence of gastric cancer is caused by unclean diet, emotional disorders, and deficiencies, which result in phlegm, Qi resistance, blood stasis, and attack the stomach. The pathogenesis is the asthenia in origin and asthenia in superficiality, and clinical TCM therapies mostly focus on phlegm and blood stasis, spleen and Qi, warm and cold. In recent years, a number of studies have proved that TCM has a significant and effective effect in the treatment of lymphatic metastasis of gastric cancer. It may inhibit the anoikis and the tumor by inhibiting the hydrolysis of matrix metalloproteinase on the basement membrane and extracellular matrix (ECM), stimulating tumor anoikis, suppressing lymphatic neovascularization, regulating tumor-associated gene expression and other pathways, so as to treat lymphatic metastasis of gastric cancer. This article reviews the advance of theoretical research, experimental research and clinical research of TCM in the treatment of lymphatic metastasis of gastric cancer in recent years, and reveals the mechanism of TCM and its targets, in order to provide scientific basis for further studies and clinical application of the effect of TCM on the lymphatic metastasis of gastric cancer.