[Research progress in traditional Chinese medicine treatment of colorectal cancer based on TGF-β signaling pathway].
Colorectal cancer(CRC), a prevalent malignancy of the digestive system, exhibits an escalating incidence and mortality rate in China. While contemporary western therapeutic approaches demonstrate efficacy in tumor suppression and symptom management, their clinical benefits are substantially limited by adverse effects, drug resistance, and high recurrence rates. Consequently, developing novel therapeutic strategies with enhanced efficacy and safety profiles has emerged as a critical research priority in oncology. TGF-β signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in modulating CRC cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, and it is intimately involved in tumorigenesis, progression, and metastasis, thereby representing a promising molecular target for CRC treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) exhibits distinctive therapeutic advantages in CRC management through its multi-target, multi-pathway regulatory mechanisms. Notably, TCM has demonstrated significant efficacy in preventing postoperative recurrence and metastasis, mitigating treatment-related side effects, and improving patients' quality of life, establishing its integral role in comprehensive CRC therapy. Current evidence indicates that various TCM active constituents, including polyphenols, terpenoids, alkaloids, polysaccharides, flavonoids, and isothiocyanates, as well as compound formulas such as Jianpi Tongluo Formula, Jianpi Xiao'ai Formula, modified Shenling Baizhu Decoction, Qingjie Fuzheng Granules, and Chanling Ointment, can effectively modulate the TGF-β signaling pathway and its interactive networks. These therapeutic agents exert anti-CRC effects through diverse mechanisms, including apoptosis induction, EMT inhibition, macrophage polarization, stemness attenuation, immune activation, chemoresistance reversal, and cell cycle arrest. This review systematically synthesizes contemporary research advances in TCM interventions for CRC, with a particular emphasis on the mechanism underpinning TGF-β pathway modulation. Our findings provide valuable insights for the development of innovative anti-CRC agents and the optimization of clinical therapeutic regimens.