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Review
. 2023 May 20;18(1):59.
doi: 10.1186/s13020-023-00751-7.

Traditional Chinese medicine in the era of immune checkpoint inhibitor: theory, development, and future directions

Yi-Xuan Yu  1   2 , Shuo Wang  2 , Zhe-Ning Liu  1   2 , Xu Zhang  1   2 , Zi-Xin Hu  1   2 , Hui-Jing Dong  1   2 , Xing-Yu Lu  1   2 , Jia-Bin Zheng  3 , Hui-Juan Cui  4
Affiliations
Review

Traditional Chinese medicine in the era of immune checkpoint inhibitor: theory, development, and future directions

Yi-Xuan Yu et al. Chin Med. .

Abstract

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized cancer management and have been widely applied; however, they still have some limitations in terms of efficacy and toxicity. There are multiple treatment regimens in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that play active roles in combination with Western medicine in the field of oncology treatment. TCM with ICIs works by regulating the tumor microenvironment and modulating gut microbiota. Through multiple targets and multiple means, TCM enhances the efficacy of ICIs, reverses resistance, and effectively prevents and treats ICI-related adverse events based on basic and clinical studies. However, there have been few conclusions on this topic. This review summarizes the development of TCM in cancer treatment, the mechanisms underlying the combination of TCM and ICIs, existing studies, ongoing trials, and prospects for future development.

Keywords: Immune checkpoint inhibitor; Immunotherapy; Traditional Chinese Medicine; Tumor microenvironment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that there are no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mechanisms of TCM impacts the ICIs therapy and irAEs
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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