Herbal Medicine: Prejudice to Realm of Reality Against TNBC

In triple-negative breast cancers, there exist tumor-specific vulnerabilities that can be targeted to avoid compensatory adaptation of cancer cells in response to standard pharmaceutical therapies. Natural moieties are well-known to possess a multitude of medicinal properties and deserve attention for TNBC prevention and therapy. To overcome drug resistance and efficacy issues, the exploration of natural moieties as targeting agents may emerge as dynamic, promising, and new therapeutic strategies to benefit TNBC patients. This chapter summarizes the role of polysaccharides, flavonoids, phenols, saponins, and taxanes in targeting TNBC. The potent role of herbal medicine in targeting molecular signalling pathways with special emphasis on their ability to target uncontrolled proliferation, metastasis, angiogenesis, and autophagy has also been discussed. Furthermore, the ability of herbal medicine in inhibiting PI3K/Akt/mTOR, STAT3, and Wnt/β-Catenin has also been explored. Combinational therapy comprising chemotherapeutic drugs and active plant constituents was also explored to overcome the complications of TNBC. 

Keywords: Anti-proliferative, Artemisinin, Bruceine, Chemo-sensitization, Chrysosplenol, Ebushicao, Flavonoids, Guggal, Multidrug resistance, Oleuropein, Oroxylin A, Phenols, Plumbagin, Polysaccharides, Pro-apoptotic, Saponins, Taxanes.