Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-based nanoformulations for cancer therapy: antitumor mechanisms, challenges, and future directions

Background/objectives

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-derived compounds have anticancer potential because of their multi-component, multi-target actions and generally favorable toxicity profiles. Clinical translation, however, is limited by poor aqueous solubility, rapid systemic metabolism, and insufficient tumor-selective delivery. This review critically evaluates recent TCM-based nanoformulations developed to address these limitations and improve the therapeutic performance.