Chinese Medicine Regulates Signaling Pathways Related to Esophageal Cancer： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Esophageal cancer is a common malignant tumor of the digestive tract. At present， the pathogenesis of esophageal cancer has not been fully clarified. Although surgery， radiotherapy， chemotherapy， targeted therapy， and immunotherapy have achieved good clinical results in the treatment of esophageal cancer， there are still many complications and severe adverse reactions. As an important part of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， in recent years， many basic experiments and clinical studies have proved that Chinese medicine has a good effect in treating esophageal cancer. At the same time， the multi-component and multi-target characteristics of Chinese medicine and unclear pathogenesis of esophageal cancer determine that there are some problems such as unclear mechanisms of Chinese medicine in preventing and treating esophageal cancer. It is necessary to start with modern medicine and reveal the mechanism of Chinese medicine in preventing and treating diseases from the aspects of molecular biology and network pharmacology. It is believed in TCM that the occurrence of esophageal cancer is mostly attributed to stagnation of liver Qi， phlegm stasis and Qi stagnation， fluid consumption and heat accumulation， the decline of healthy Qi， and the cementation of cancer toxicity. According to the literature review， Chinese medicinal compounds mainly include tonic formulae （such as Liu Junzitang）， drying and moistening formulas （such as Qigesan）， and heat-clearing formulas （such as Fufang Kushen injection）. Chinese medicinal monomers mainly include drugs potent in attacking poison and killing insects， clearing heat， activating blood and resolving stasis， and regulating Qi， which is consistent with the etiology and pathogenesis of esophageal cancer in TCM. It is also found that Chinese medicine can promote cell apoptosis and autophagy， block cell cycle， and reverse cell resistance by regulating phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B （PI3K/Akt）， neurogenic locus notch homolog protein （Notch）， Wnt/β-catenin， mitogen-activated protein kinase （MAPK）， nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB）， Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 （JAK2/STAT3）， and other related signaling pathways， but there is no systematic summary. This study systematically summarized the relevant signaling pathways of Chinese medicine in regulating esophageal cancer， which is helpful to clarify the relevant mechanisms of Chinese medicine in the process of esophageal cancer occurrence， development， invasion， and metastasis， so as to provide new targets and new perspectives for the treatment of esophageal cancer and promote the modernization of TCM.