Remodeling tumor microenvironment with natural products to overcome drug resistance

Abstract

With cancer incidence rates continuing to increase and occurrence of resistance in drug treatment, there is a pressing demand to find safer and more effective anticancer strategy for cancer patients. Natural products, have the advantage of low toxicity and multiple action targets, are always used in the treatment of cancer prevention in early stage and cancer supplement in late stage. Tumor microenvironment is necessary for cancer cells to survive and progression, and immune activation is a vital means for the tumor microenvironment to eliminate cancer cells. A number of studies have found that various natural products could target and regulate immune cells such as T cells, macrophages, mast cells as well as inflammatory cytokines in the tumor microenvironment. Natural products tuning the tumor microenvironment via various mechanisms to activate the immune response have immeasurable potential for cancer immunotherapy. In this review, it highlights the research findings related to natural products regulating immune responses against cancer, especially reveals the possibility of utilizing natural products to remodel the tumor microenvironment to overcome drug resistance.

Editorial: Combating cancer with natural products: Non-coding RNA and RNA modification

“…Meanwhile, Hanahan (2022) notes that unravelling phenotypic plasticity, non-mutational epigenetic reprogramming, polymorphic microbiomes and senescent cells are likely to be incorporated into the cancer conceptualization of hallmarks. On this basis, the researchers have further revealed that cancer epigenetics, genomic instability and mutations play an important role in the acquisition of cancer hallmarks by cells (Ravi et al, 2022;Zhang et al, 2022).…”

“…Meanwhile, Hanahan (2022) notes that unravelling phenotypic plasticity, non-mutational epigenetic reprogramming, polymorphic microbiomes and senescent cells are likely to be incorporated into the cancer conceptualization of hallmarks. On this basis, the researchers have further revealed that cancer epigenetics, genomic instability and mutations play an important role in the acquisition of cancer hallmarks by cells (Ravi et al, 2022;Zhang et al, 2022).The emergence of the concept of cancer epigenetics has inspired a wide range of researchers to conduct more in-depth research into cancer mechanisms and cancer treatments. It is generally assumed that epigenetic abnormalities are caused by interactions between multiple protein complexes and their components, such as histone modifications, DNA methylation mechanisms, chromatin remodeling proteins and polycomb (PcG) proteins (Tsai and Baylin, 2011).…”

Nanotechnology in cervical cancer immunotherapy: Therapeutic vaccines and adoptive cell therapy

“…Immunotherapy leverages immunological principles and methods to activate and enhance the body's immune system. Immunotherapy can enhance the ability of immune system to recognize, attack, and neutralize tumor cells, thereby inhibiting tumor growth (Duan et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2022). The mechanisms underlying therapeutic vaccines and adoptive cell therapy are shown in Figure 1.…”

The E3 ubiquitin ligases regulate PD-1/PD-L1 protein levels in tumor microenvironment to improve immunotherapy

“…In addition, TME is critically involved in clinical intervention and changes treatment outcomes. Modulation of TME is useful for fine-tuning of therapy strategies (9)(10)(11).…”