The Real Mechanisms of Emodin Treating Lung Cancer Based on System Pharmacology

and their related molecules have little benefit in improving survival, prognosis, recurrence and metastasis despite tumor size shrinkage. Compared with these routine treatment methods, the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cancer therapy based on TCM theory, in which the cancer initiation is regarded as disorder of human body system, focuses on the events impacting the gene rather than the gene itself. In fact, it is necessary but not sufficient for cancer initiation and progression to activate OCG or inactivate TSG, which exhibit oncogene or tumor-suppressor property depending on the biological context. In TCM theory, lung and large intestine are external-internal relations of each other, which are physiologically related and pathologically affected each other. Hence, the use of a classical laxative medicine rhubarb for lung cancer treatment is in line with TCM theory. Emodin as the major component of rhubarb represents the multi-targeting therapeutic mechanisms of TCM in multiple disease treatment including anti-cancer. There are some reviews on microscopic and inner mechanisms of emodin in cancer treatment, our previous study confirmed lung cancer-preventing effect of lung cancer. Here, we summarize the real mechanisms of emodin treating lung cancer based on system pharmacology, mainly focusing on the resolution of intrinsic pathological inducers, which will provide a solid foundation to understand cancer pathogenesis and formulate cancer therapy.