Research Progress in Traditional Chinese Medicine for the Treatment of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer (BC) is a major cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. While mainstream anticancer therapies have improved clinical outcomes, they are often associated with significant toxicity and drug resistance. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has received increasing recognition as a valuable complementary approach in oncology. This review summarizes the current evidence supporting the integrative use of TCM in BC management. Clinical studies indicate that TCM formulations can alleviate the adverse effects induced by chemotherapy and targeted therapy to thereby enhance patients' quality of life and treatment adherence. As an adjuvant, TCM also shows the potential to improve both the efficacy of conventional treatments and survival outcomes. Preclinical investigations reveal that bioactive herbal compounds exert multi-target antitumor effects by modulating key mechanisms such as programmed cell death, proliferation, metastasis, cell-cycle progression, drug resistance, aerobic glycolysis, and antitumor immunity. Furthermore, advanced drug delivery systems are being developed to overcome the inherent limitations of herbal compounds. However, challenges which warrant further investigation, including heterogeneous study designs, the standardization of formulations, and potential herb-drug interactions, remain under-explored. Overall, TCM represents a promising complementary strategy for BC. Future efforts should prioritize well-designed clinical trials, mechanistic elucidation, and the development of integrated precision medicine models to optimize patient care.