Mammary gland hyperplasia (MGH) occurs with high frequency among middle-aged women and is closely related to breast cancer. The treatment of this disease has become a research hotspot. Many patients with MGH are worried about the potential side effects of the synthetic drugs they are on. Thus, they seek alternative therapy, such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In recent years, along with the Chinese herbs and its active ingredients, TCM compounds have been widely accepted and implemented in the treatment of MGH, whose mechanism hitherto is not completely clear. In this paper, we elaborate the mechanism of TCM in the treatment of MGH from the perspectives of sexual hormone levels, the expression of ER and PR, hemorheology, free radical activity and lipid peroxidation, VEGF and BFGF, cell proliferation activities, anti-apoptosis gene BcL-2, promoting apoptosis gene Bax, ERK, and tumor suppressor gene. In conclusion, TCM appears to be promising for MGH treatment. This paper will provide an overview of the mechanism of TCM in the treatment of MGH. In the near term, a better understanding of TCM will be achieved through comprehensive studies of its molecular mechanism.
Keywords: Mammary Gland Hyperplasia; Receptor; Review; Sex Hormone; Traditional Chinese Medicine.