Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. May 24, 2025; 16(5): 102223
Published online May 24, 2025. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i5.102223
East meets West: The winning combination against BRAF V600E metastatic colorectal cancer
Wen-Ming Liu, Xiao-Bing Li
Wen-Ming Liu, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First People’s Hospital of Tianmen, Tianmen 431700, Hubei Province, China
Xiao-Bing Li, Department of Thoracic Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Liu WM drafted the manuscript; Li XB made contributions to the collection, analysis and summary of the manuscript; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, No. 2019CFC929.
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: Xiao-Bing Li, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Thoracic Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 116 South Zhuodaoquan Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China. lixiaobing0629@126.com
Received: October 12, 2024
Revised: February 10, 2025
Accepted: February 19, 2025
Published online: May 24, 2025
Processing time: 219 Days and 15.2 Hours
Abstract

Metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients with BRAF V600E mutation have a poor prognosis despite the implementation of multiple treatment strategies. The integration of traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine in treating BRAF mutant mCRC has garnered increasing attention. Recent studies indicate that combining traditional Chinese and modern Western medical approaches not only extend survival but also reduces the risk of mortality in patients with BRAF V600E mutant mCRC. This approach is particularly effective for colorectal cancer patients who have right-sided colon involvement, liver metastasis, or a history of radiotherapy or chemotherapy. In this treatment combination, traditional Chinese medicine may offer symptomatic relief and improve quality of life, while Western medicine targets the disease more aggressively with advanced pharmacological agents. Ongoing research is crucial to further elucidate the mechanisms underlying these benefits and to optimize treatment protocols.

Keywords: Traditional Chinese medicine; Western medicine; BRAF mutation; Metastatic colorectal cancer; Medicine

Core Tip: Bian et al’s study demonstrates that integrated treatment with tolerated toxicity significantly improves survival in patients with BRAF mutant advanced colorectal cancer compared to traditional Western medicine alone, especially for certain subgroups. However, while this study provides new evidence supporting combined therapies, it also has limitations, such as unclear mechanisms of action, lack of detailed treatment protocols, and a small sample size. Summarizing these new findings and addressing the study’s issues will not only aid in the clinical application of integrated treatments for colorectal cancer but also promote the development of personalized therapies for this disease.