Advances in the synergistic and toxic attenuating effect of traditional Chinese medicine in cancer treatment

Chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy are the main pharmacotherapies for the treatment of malignant tumors. However, side effects and drug resistance are the key reasons that limit the efficacy of anti-tumor drugs. Traditional Chinese medicine is an important part of complementary and alternative medicine. It can not only prevent the occurrence and development of tumors, improve the anti-tumor efficacy of western medicine, but also attenuate the toxic and side effects of western anti-tumor medicine and improve the patients’ quality of life. In this paper, the advances in anti-tumor research of integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine are reviewed from the aspects of sensitization and synergistic effect, reversal of drug resistance, enhancement of immune response and reduction of toxic and side effects on normal tissues and organs, and a new approach of reducing toxicity and increasing efficacy of western anti-tumor medicine is proposed. However, many problems remain in the clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of malignant tumors and other serious diseases, such as complex ingredients and lack of strict quality control; lack of efficacy evidence support from high-quality clinical trials with large sample sizes; insufficient research on the pharmacodynamic materials and mechanisms. At the end of this paper, we provide an outlook for the research direction of integrated Chinese and western medicine for anti-tumor purposes, with an attempt to reveal the scientific connotation of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of major diseases, and to inherit and develop traditional Chinese medicine theories.