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Published in: Cancer Cell International 1/2021

01-12-2021 | Alkaloids | Review

Tumor microenvironment: a prospective target of natural alkaloids for cancer treatment

Authors: Yanming Luo, Shuangshuang Yin, Jia Lu, Shiyue Zhou, Yingying Shao, Xiaomei Bao, Tao Wang, Yuling Qiu, Haiyang Yu

Published in: Cancer Cell International | Issue 1/2021

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Abstract

Malignant tumor has become one of the major diseases that seriously endangers human health. Numerous studies have demonstrated that tumor microenvironment (TME) is closely associated with patient prognosis. Tumor growth and progression are strongly dependent on its surrounding tumor microenvironment, because the optimal conditions originated from stromal elements are required for cancer cell proliferation, invasion, metastasis and drug resistance. The tumor microenvironment is an environment rich in immune/inflammatory cells and accompanied by a continuous, gradient of hypoxia and pH. Overcoming immunosuppressive environment and boosting anti-tumor immunity may be the key to the prevention and treatment of cancer. Most traditional Chinese medicine have been proved to have good anti-tumor activity, and they have the advantages of better therapeutic effect and few side effects in the treatment of malignant tumors. An increasing number of studies are giving evidence that alkaloids extracted from traditional Chinese medicine possess a significant anticancer efficiency via regulating a variety of tumor-related genes, pathways and other mechanisms. This paper reviews the anti-tumor effect of alkaloids targeting tumor microenvironment, and further reveals its anti-tumor mechanism through the effects of alkaloids on different components in tumor microenvironment.
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Metadata
Title
Tumor microenvironment: a prospective target of natural alkaloids for cancer treatment
Authors
Yanming Luo
Shuangshuang Yin
Jia Lu
Shiyue Zhou
Yingying Shao
Xiaomei Bao
Tao Wang
Yuling Qiu
Haiyang Yu
Publication date
01-12-2021
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Cancer Cell International / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1475-2867
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12935-021-02085-6

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