Zheng SH, Xue TY, Wang QY, Ye YA, Zhang P. Chinese medicine monomers for hepatocellular carcinoma: New ideas related to autophagy. World J Gastroenterol 2025; 31(26): 106113 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i26.106113]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Shi-Hao Zheng, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Spleen and Gastroenterology, Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 5 Haiyuncang Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100700, China. zz94080266@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 14, 2025; 31(26): 106113 Published online Jul 14, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i26.106113
Chinese medicine monomers for hepatocellular carcinoma: New ideas related to autophagy
Shi-Hao Zheng, Tian-Yu Xue, Qiu-Yue Wang, Yong-An Ye, Peng Zhang
Shi-Hao Zheng, Qiu-Yue Wang, Yong-An Ye, Department of Spleen and Gastroenterology, Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100700, China
Tian-Yu Xue, Department of Spleen and Gastroenterology, Hebei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China
Peng Zhang, Department of Spleen and Gastroenterology, Dongfang Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100078, China
Co-corresponding authors: Shi-Hao Zheng and Peng Zhang.
Author contributions: Zheng SH, Ye YA, and Zhang P designed the research study; Xue TY, Wang QY, and Zhang P performed the research; Zheng SH analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript. Zheng SH and Zhang P led the research design, data analysis and paper writing in different directions, contributed to the core ideas of this paper, and worked together to ensure the smooth progress of the study and they are co-corresponding authors of this manuscript. More importantly, the dual corresponding authors of this article can more fairly reflect the contributions of the collaborators and avoid neglecting the academic leadership of other key participants due to the single corresponding author’s signature. Therefore, our rational designation of co-corresponding authors not only reflects academic fairness, but also promotes the healthy development of scientific cooperation.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82104810; and the Science, Technology and Innovation Specialization 2023, No. DZMKJCX-2023-014.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Shi-Hao Zheng, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Spleen and Gastroenterology, Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 5 Haiyuncang Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100700, China. zz94080266@163.com
Received: February 17, 2025 Revised: April 9, 2025 Accepted: June 26, 2025 Published online: July 14, 2025 Processing time: 145 Days and 5.8 Hours
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the most prevalent form of primary liver cancer, characterized by high mortality rates, frequent recurrence and metastasis, poor clinical prognosis, and a complex pathogenesis with limited therapeutic options. Autophagy plays a pivotal role in the immune response and functions as a lysosome-mediated degradation mechanism essential for recycling cellular components and eliminating aggregated proteins, damaged organelles, and invasive pathogens, thereby maintaining cellular function and dynamic homeostasis. Additionally, autophagy regulates several critical proteins and signaling pathways, including mammalian target of the rapamycin (mTOR), Beclin-1, the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mTOR signaling pathway, the Hippo/yes-associated protein signaling pathway, and the Janus kinase/signal transducer of activation signaling pathway. This regulatory capacity of autophagy can potentially prevent or delay the progression of HCC. Nowadays, many studies have shown that different types of herbal monomers such as the more common quercetin, baicalein, berberine and emodin can further regulate autophagy and exert preventive and therapeutic effects on HCC through the modulation of mTOR and other related signaling pathways and so on. In this paper, we examine the mechanisms of autophagy, key proteins and signaling pathways involved, and the modulation of autophagy by Chinese medicine monomers in the prevention and treatment of HCC. This review aims to provide valuable insights for the development of Chinese medicine strategies against HCC and to inform the rational use of these therapies in clinical practice.
Core Tip: In this paper, we examine the mechanisms of autophagy, key proteins and signaling pathways involved, and the modulation of autophagy by Chinese medicine monomers in the prevention and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. This review aims to provide valuable insights for the development of Chinese medicine strategies against hepatocellular carcinoma and to inform the rational use of these therapies in clinical practice.
