Targeting Arachidonic Acid Pathway with Natural Ingredients from Traditional Chinese Medicine for Cancer Prevention and Therapy

In the process of cancer transformation, arachidonic acid (AA) serves as an important metabolic pathway, contributing to the production of carcinogens by participating in the enzyme metabolic processes, like phospholipase A2, cyclooxygenases, cytochrome P450, and lipoxygenases. Chemopreventive drugs for various cancers have been developed from natural products that inhibit the AA pathway. Moreover, different monomers and components of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are widely suggested to be effective on preventing and treating cancer chemically. The present work focused on analyzed different therapeutic methods for natural ingredients from TCM, targeting the metabolic pathways of three enzymes within the AA pathway. Additionally, we summarized the substantial effect of TCM in effectively inhibiting tumors by regulating this pathway.