Research and Application Progress of Corydalis yanhusuo in Tumor and Its Adjuvant Therapy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62767/Keywords:
Corydalis yanhusuo, alkaloids, malignant tumors, cancer pain, radiochemotherapy detoxification, tumor immunityAbstract
The global incidence of malignant tumors keeps rising year-on-year. Although surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy are widely adopted in clinical practice, major challenges including tumor proliferation and metastasis, radiochemotherapy-triggered organ toxicity, and tumor-mediated immune suppression still greatly impair cancer patients’ prognosis and quality of life. Corydalis yanhusuo W. T. Wang, a well-known traditional Chinese medicinal herb, promotes blood circulation, resolves blood stasis and relieves pain, and has long been applied for treating stasis-associated masses. Modern pharmacological studies suggest that its rich isoquinoline alkaloids possess diverse anti-tumor properties: tumor-growth inhibition, cancer-pain alleviation, radiochemotherapy-related detoxification, reversal of drug resistance, and tumor immune modulation. Recent pre-clinical evidence indicates that its key bioactive alkaloids (levo-tetrahydropalmatine, dehydrocorydaline, glaucine, and isocorydine) can hamper tumor progression via modulating cell-cycle arrest, apoptosis, autophagy, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, oncogenic signaling, angiogenesis, and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. In clinical settings, Corydalis yanhusuo can safely alleviate graded cancer pain, lower opioid dependence, mitigate cardiac, renal and gastrointestinal injuries induced by radiochemotherapy, reverse multidrug resistance, and boost immunotherapeutic effects across peri-operative, radiochemotherapeutic, rehabilitative and palliative care phases. This review systematically summarizes the bioactive constituents, pre-clinical anti-tumor mechanisms, and comprehensive clinical applications of Corydalis yanhusuo. It further discusses existing research limitations and puts forward translational perspectives, hoping to offer supporting evidence for developing this herb into a promising botanical adjuvant anti-tumor agent and facilitate integrated Chinese-Western therapeutic strategies against malignant tumors.
References
Zhang YY, Wei JH. Research progress on chemical constituents and anti‑tumor activities of Corydalis yanhusuo. Chinese Herbal Medicines 2025; 56(12): 3890‑3898.
Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission. Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (Volume Ⅰ). Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (Volume Ⅰ); China Medical Science Press: Beijing, China, 2020; pp.1462‑1463.
Ding XM, Zeng JQ, Huang TH, et al. Tetrahydropalmatine inhibits migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells via TGF‑β1/Smads signaling pathway. Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2024; 30(8): 121‑127.
Li T, Wang J. Levo‑tetrahydropalmatine suppresses HCC via AMPK‑mediated autophagy and metabolic reprogramming. Phytomedicine 2023; 108: 154762.
Luo LM. Review on dual pharmacological effects of tetrahydropalmatine: analgesia and tumor intervention. Chinese Journal of Applied Physiology 2016; 32(2): 228‑231.
Yang K. Experiment on protective effect of total alkaloids of Corydalis yanhusuo against chemotherapy‑induced myocardial injury. Chinese Journal of Clinical Research 2016; 29(9): 1057‑1061.
Liu C. Analysis of tumor‑apoptosis‑intervention targets of active ingredients from Corydalis yanhusuo based on network pharmacology. Journal of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2020; 22(10): 112‑116.
Gao JL, Shi JM. Corydalis yanhusuo alkaloids inhibit endothelial angiogenesis for tumor intervention. Oncology Research 2009; 17(12): 519‑526.
Ding M, Li X, Wang L. Isocorydine suppresses breast cancer invasion and metastasis via regulating HCG18/miR‑380‑5p axis. Chinese Archives of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025; 43(12): 156‑161.
Shu YY, Xu X. Regulatory effects of blood‑activating alkaloids on tumor immune microenvironment. China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica 2023; 48(16): 4275‑4282.
L i S, Chen Y, Zhang L, et al. Structural characterization of Corydalis yanhusuo polysaccharides and its bioactivity in vitro.Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2025; 312: 116487.
Yin XZ, Liu ZJ, Wang J. Tetrahydropalmatine induces apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by regulating energy metabolism through mitochondrial ROS. China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica 2025; 50(18): 4723‑4730.
Mao YE. Xuanhusuo powder has an anti‑breast cancer effect by inhibiting myeloid‑derived suppressor cell differentiation in the spleen of mice through down‑regulating granulocyte colony stimulating factor. Chinese Journal of Immunology 2024; 40(7): 1425‑1430.
Feng LX, Wang HQ, He J. Experimental study on Corydalis yanhusuo mixture for prevention and treatment of chemotherapy‑induced phlebitis. Chinese Journal of Clinical Oncology 2012; 39(15): 1073‑1077.
Li W, Zhao Y, Zhang Q, et al. Alkaloid extract of Corydalis yanhusuo inhibits angiogenesis via targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor signaling. BMC Complement Altern Med 2019; 19(1): 359.
Zhang T, Li J. Network pharmacological analysis of Toosendan‑Fructus‑Corydalis‑Yanhusuo herb pair against hepatocellular carcinoma. Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2021; 37(9): 2122‑2128.
Yin X, Li W, Zhang J, et al. AMPK‑Mediated Metabolic Switching Is High Effective for Phytochemical Levo‑Tetrahydropalmatine (l‑THP) to Reduce Hepatocellular Carcinoma Tumor Growth. Metabolites 2021; 11(12): 811.
Wang JN, Chen C. Corydalis yanhusuo inhibits immune escape of EBV‑positive gastric cancer through CXCL17/AMPK pathway. Journal of China Medical University 2024; 53(5): 418‑423.
Zhou L, Wei Y, Lin K, et al. L‑Tetrahydropalmatine synergizes cytotoxic CD8+ T mediated antitumor and ferroptosis in gastric cancer. Cell Death Discovery 2025; 11(1): 541.
Pu ZH, Li T. Correlation mechanism of total alkaloids from Corydalis yanhusuo in activating blood circulation to dissipate blood stasis and anti‑tumor activity. Food and Fermentation Science & Technology 2025; 61(1): 102‑107.
Zou X, Zhang XR, Yu JH, et al. Pharmacodynamic substances of Chelidonium majus ‑ Corydalis yanhusuo herb pair reversing adriamycin resistance in breast cancer. Chinese Herbal Medicines 2024; 55(7): 2259‑2270.
Xia X, He J, Liu B, et al. Targeting ERα degradation by L‑Tetrahydropalmatine provides a novel strategy for breast cancer treatment. International Journal of Biological Sciences 2020; 16(12): 2192‑2204.
Gong J, Xing C, Wang LY, et al. L‑Tetrahydropalmatine enhances the sensitivity of human ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin via microRNA‑93/PTEN/Akt cascade. Journal of BUON 2019; 24(2): 701‑708.
Chen Y, Zhang H. Corydalis yanhusuo extract inhibits prostate cancer EMT via miR‑192‑5p/STAT3 axis. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2025; 26(15): 6721.
Zheng G. Tetrahydropalmatine relieves bone cancer pain via TNF‑α/uPA/PAR2/TRPV1 signaling in dorsal root ganglia. Journal of Translational Medicine 2025; 23(1): 397.
Sun JF. Study on tetrahydropalmatine targeting Nav1.7 to inhibit morphine tolerance in cancer pain. Journal of Shenyang Pharmaceutical University 2024; 41(8): 942‑948.
Liu YJ, Cao YH. Research progress on traditional Chinese medicine reversers for tumor multidrug resistance. Chinese Pharmaceutical Journal 2024; 59(7): 561‑570.
State Intellectual Property Office of P.R.China. Application of tetrahydropalmatine in preparing drugs against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. China Patent: CN106551930A, 2017.
Zhou LC, Wen TT. Clinical observation of compound prescriptions containing Corydalis yanhusuo for ameliorating adverse reactions of tumor radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Shenzhen Journal of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine 2021; 31(17): 55‑57.
He J, Hao XB. Study on Corydalis yanhusuo improving postpartum blood stasis and regulating tumor‑related inflammatory pathways. Modern Journal of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine 2022; 31(22): 3100‑3105.
Xu SB, Fu RC, Su JJ, et al. Research progress on novel drug delivery systems of tetrahydropalmatine. Journal of Liaocheng University (Natural Science Edition) 2026; 39(5): 737‑745.
Downloads
Published
Data Availability Statement
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
