Active Phytochemicals from Chinese Herbal Medicines: Anti-Cancer Activities and Mechanisms

• Offers an overview on how phytochemicals help improve cancer therapy
• Examines the latest research on herbal medicines, in particular with small molecules
• Provides a useful approach to cancer therapy strategy with herbal phytochemicals
• Covers integrated pharmacology of herbal medicines with a unique approach to the development of phytochemicals and their mechanisms of actions in animal models with cancers, including prostate, lung, and liver, as well as diseases these herbs are used to treat
• Presents insights into cancer treatment in combination with herbal phytochemicals, and how phytochemicals reduce cytotoxicity and side effects related to cancer drugs

Summary

Biomedical Science

Chinese herbal medicine represents complementary or adjunctive therapies that often can improve the efficacy of Western medicine to achieve the pharmacological effects, especially in cancer treatment. However, the combination of herbs with therapeutic drugs can raise potential health risk. Building a bridge between Western medicine and herbal medicines, Active Phytochemicals from Chinese Herbal Medicines: Anti-Cancer Activities and Mechanisms gives you useful information on how integrated medicines can work for cancer therapy. It discusses the therapeutic uses of phytochemicals, adverse effects, and interactions with (Western) cancer drugs.

The author takes a unique approach to integrated pharmacology of herbal medicines, examining the development of phytochemicals and their mechanisms of action in the context of the cancers and diseases they are used to treat. He covers biologic action of the active phytochemicals at the molecular, cellular, and organ levels. The book covers the principles of the interaction of phytochemicals and the related drug actions. It also addresses the common pathways affecting cancer development before discussing the phytochemical classes and specific phytochemicals that have been recently reported in journal papers for the management of cancer and other diseases.

Highlighting the increasingly important aspects of pharmacology, including health benefit and drawbacks of phytochemicals, the book presents the relevant background of the biochemistry of the cancer. It includes illustrations and tables with adverse reactions that highlight important issues related to phytochemical actions. These features and more make the book a useful reference on phytochemicals obtained from herbal medicines. It blends coverage of fundamental mechanisms of anti-cancer action and the use of phytochemicals to manage cancers and other human diseases, allowing you to explore how herbal medicines can enhance conventional protocols.