Anti-metastatic Pharmacology Based on Tumor Microenvironment Regulation： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Tumor metastasis is the major cause of death for tumor patients and the key bottleneck of clinical treatment. In recent years， basic and clinical studies have recognized that tumor microenvironment （TME） is highly correlated with tumor metastasis， which provides hope for anti-metastatic drug development and clinical treatment. At present， the mainstream studies on TME represented by immune checkpoint inhibitors （ICIs） mainly focus on the rectification of immune function of T cells and B cells. However， a large number of studies have shown that the significance of other members of TME for tumor metastasis cannot be ignored， which greatly reflects the progress of anti-metastatic research based on TME regulation. This review focused on tumor metastasis， summarized the mechanism of action of non-T and non-B immune cells ［tumor-associated macrophages （TAMs） and tumor-associated neutrophils （TANs）］ and non-immune members ［vascular endothelial cells （ECs）， tumor-associated fibroblasts （CAFs）， and blood platelet］ in the process of tumor metastasis in TME based on the literature over the recent five years， and explored their key value in the treatment of metastasis. At the treatment level， this review focused on the perspective of the integration of frontier and traditional methods and took the functional homeostasis remodeling of TME as the entry point to summarize the activity and mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） regulation of non-T and non-B immune cells and non-immune members and highlight its advantages and characteristics in clinical intervention of metastasis. This review helps to break through the limitations of over-reliance on T and B immune cells in anti-metastatic research， make the research rely on a wider range of cell groups， explore the potential value of TME in anti-metastatic drug intervention， and enrich the idea and strategy of understanding the anti-metastatic pharmacological activity. The review is also expected to provide a broader vision for the research and development of new anti-metastatic drugs.