Astragaloside IV: a potential nemesis for gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer (GC), a life-threatening malignancy with profound global health impacts, remains a cardinal focus of biomedical research. Recently, astragaloside IV (AS-IV), a bioactive triterpenoid saponin derived from , has garnered substantial attention for its multifaceted anticancer properties in preclinical investigations. This review systematically synthesizes current evidence on the molecular mechanisms underlying AS-IV's inhibitory effects against GC, encompassing programmed cell death pathways (apoptosis, autophagy, pyroptosis, ferroptosis), tumor angiogenesis, tumor microenvironment modulation, and inflammatory signaling networks. Many studies demonstrate that AS-IV can inhibit the development of GC through multi-target and multi-pathway mechanisms, making it a well-deserved nemesis of GC. Notably, although AS-IV has emerged as a potential candidate for GC therapy, it suffers from problems such as single research model, unclear toxic and side effects, and poor bioavailability. These seriously hinder the efficiency of AS-IV in the treatment of GC. In the future, we can design and implement a series of and experiments to further explore and clarify the mechanism of action of AS-IV in the treatment of GC. It is encouraged to carry out a number of high-quality clinical controlled studies to further prove the effectiveness and safety of AS-IV. In addition, we can also use emerging technologies (such as nanotechnology) to improve the bioavailability of AS-IV, bringing more hope to GC patients.