Gastric cancer (GC) is a common malignant
tumor worldwide and poses a serious threat to human health. As a
traditional Chinese medicine,
Huaier (Trametes robiniophila Murr.) has been used in the clinical treatment of GC. However, the mechanism underlying the anticancer effect of
Huaier remains poorly understood. In this study, we used in vivo imaging technology to determine the anticancer effect of the
Huaier n-butanol extract (HBE) on orthotopic and hepatic
metastasis of GC mouse models. We found that HBE suppressed
tumor growth and
metastasis without causing apparent host toxicity. Proteomic analysis of GC cells before and after HBE intervention revealed
syntenin to be one of the most significantly downregulated
proteins after HBE intervention. We further demonstrated that HBE suppressed the growth and
metastasis of GC by reducing the expression of
syntenin and the phosphorylation of STAT3 at Y705 and reversing the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In addition, we confirmed that
syntenin was highly expressed in GC tissue and correlated with
metastasis and poor prognosis. In conclusion, our results suggest that
Huaier, a clinically used anticancer
drug, may inhibit the growth and liver
metastasis of GC by inhibiting the
syntenin/STAT3 signaling pathway and reversing EMT.