Complementary therapies with traditional chinese medicine for gynecological cancers and breast cancer: Evidence from experimental research to clinical study

Cancers are the leading causes of mortality. Gynecological cancers including cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, ovary cancer, and breast cancer are female-specific and life-threatening diseases. In additional to conventional standard treatment, complementary therapy with traditional Chinese medicine needs to be face up. Our results have revealed that the multi-component nature of medicinal herbs makes them particularly suitable for treating complex diseases and offers great potential for synergistic activity among active ingredients. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) possesses advantages as an adjuvant therapy to alleviate cancer symptoms of patients after postoperation and when undergoing radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Chinese herbs may prevent tumor growth by shrinking or stabilizing tumors as well as reducing tumor recurrence and metastasis. TCM may also protect cancer patients from complications by increasing the sensitivity or reducing adverse effects associated with conventional treatment, as well as improving quality of life and survival. The results would provide a reference for the effective development and use of TCM combinations and conventional therapies. Exploring the synergistic mechanisms of herbal ingredients will help researchers discover new phytomedicines. Further advanced clinical trial is required to verify the efficacy of these reported drug combinations and discovered synergistic mechanisms.