Bioinformatics screening regarding herbal components that targetedly regulate the function of tumour-associated macrophages.

As an important component of tumour stroma, tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) promote tumour development and progression. Herbs have been increasingly used in anticancer therapies due to their wide-ranging anticancer effects and minor side-effects. However, no herb-based treatments targeting TAMs have yet been proposed. To address this issue, screening using modular analysis bioinformatics techniques found 6 core functional modules for TAMs that contain 46 total genes. Moreover, 15 potential new anticancer drugs that regulate the genes in the 6 core modules were identified through bioinformatics techniques and Fisher's exact test. Our results provide a new research avenue for targeting TAMs in anticancer therapies.