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Volume 10,Issue 4

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13 October 2025
Data Mining-Driven: Identification of Potential Traditional Chinese Medicine Categories Targeting Vasculogenic Mimicry in Esophageal Cancer
Yunqin Wang ,  Yu Wang ,  Qian Zhang ,  Ruoshui Xia ,  Yanqing Liu ,  Jue Chen
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1 Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, No. 368 Hanjiang Middle Road, Hanjiang District, Yangzhou 225001, Jiangsu, China,
PAR 2025 , 9(5), 81–91; https://doi.org/10.26689/par.v9i5.12158
© 2025 by the Authors. Licensee Whioce Publishing, Singapore. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Background: Vasculogenic mimicry refers to a specialized tumor microvasculature independently formed by tumor cells, which facilitates the recurrence, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance in esophageal cancer. Within the framework of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, there is currently no clear conceptual classification or diagnostic-therapeutic principles for this phenomenon. Objective: To explore traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herbs and syndrome factors related to the treatment of vasculogenic mimicry in esophageal cancer, and to provide a reference for clarifying the TCM clinical syndromes of vasculogenic mimicry in esophageal cancer. Methods: Based on public databases such as TCMSP, CNKI, and PubMed, TCM herbs related to esophageal cancer, clinical medications, and herbs inhibiting vasculogenic mimicry were retrieved. The herbs collected from multiple databases were standardized, collated, and cross-analyzed, and core herbs were screened for further analysis. Results: Among the public databases, herbs inhibiting vasculogenic mimicry and commonly used clinical herbs for esophageal cancer were mainly of the blood-activating and stasis-resolving type (Huoxue Huayu). In contrast, esophageal cancer-related herbs in the TCMSP database were mainly of the heat-clearing and toxin-resolving type (Qingre Jiedu). A total of 22 TCM herbs related to vasculogenic mimicry in esophageal cancer were identified, mainly blood-activating and stasis-resolving herbs, involving three syndrome factors: “blood stasis (Xueyu), Qi deficiency (Qixu), and Qi stagnation (Qizhi).” Conclusion: Vasculogenic mimicry can promote the progression of esophageal cancer, and blood-activating and stasis-resolving herbs may improve the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer.

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