Abstract

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been practiced in China and surrounding regions for more than 2000 years. Research has shown that TCM is an effective and alternative option for anticancer therapy. A plethora of Chinese herbal recipes today serve as alternative or complementary medicines to treat cancer and/or alleviate the side effects of conventional therapies. This review focused on the immunoregulatory properties of TCM, introducing their effect on immune cells, immune molecules and immune organs along with discussions of their functions in improvement of cancer immunosuppressive state. Some important examples of these TCM as well as natural components possessing immunomodulatory and/or anticancer actions isolated from traditional Chinese medicines are also discussed.

Keywords: Traditional chinese medicine (TCM); Immunomodulation; Cancer therapy

Abbreviations: DCs: Dendritic Cells; APCs: Antigen Presenting Cells; NK Cells: Natural Killer Cells; MHC: Major Histocompatibility Complex; CTL: Cytotoxic T Cell; Tregs: Regulatory T Cells; TME: Cancer Microenvironment; OSCC: Oral Squamous Cells