Resinous traditional Chinese medicine for cancer treatment: Mechanisms and therapeutic potential

Resinous traditional Chinese medicines are a 'treasure trove of natural bioactive molecules'. Their unique hydrophobic components are an important source of antitumour agents. Resinous traditional Chinese medicines, including frankincense, myrrh, gamboge, Sanguis Draconis, Resina Draconis and asafoetida, strongly inhibit the progression of various malignant tumours, such as lung cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer and gastric cancer, through multiple mechanisms. The core antitumour mechanisms are primarily mediated by bioactive constituents, such as resin glycosides, terpenoids and flavonoids, which induce the death of tumour cells, arrest the cell cycle, suppress metastasis, modulate immune responses and inhibit angiogenesis. These active compounds have dual therapeutic value. They not only exert antitumour effects independently but also reverse multidrug resistance. In this review, we systematically summarise the antitumour active components of resinous traditional Chinese medicines and their underlying molecular mechanisms and discuss the current limitations and strategies for their clinical application, to provide novel insights for developing novel antitumour drugs.