尽管过去几十年结直肠癌在治疗上取得了较大进展，但放化疗的不良反应、耐药性和高昂的治疗成本仍然是结直肠癌治疗的主要限制因素。具有抗肿瘤活性的植物精油因其低毒、来源广泛在抗结直肠癌药物开发中受到广泛关注。通过搜集和分析相关文献，发现部分植物精油及其活性成分能够有效预防和治疗结直肠癌，其作用机制涉及抑制慢性炎症、抗氧化应激、抑制细胞增殖、诱导细胞凋亡、阻滞细胞周期、抑制血管新生、改善肠道菌群结构，其干预的信号通路包括核因子-κB（nuclear factor-κB，NF-κB）信号通路、Toll样受体4（Toll-like receptor 4，TLR4）信号通路、Wnt/β-连环蛋白（β-catenin）信号通路、表皮生长因子受体（epidermal growth factor receptor，EGFR）信号通路、磷脂酰肌醇-3-激酶（phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase，PI3K）/蛋白激酶B（protein kinase B，Akt）信号通路、丝裂原活化蛋白激酶（mitogen-activated protein kinase，MAPK）/细胞外调节蛋白激酶（extracellular regulated kinases，ERK）信号通路等。对植物精油及其活性成分防治结直肠癌的作用机制和信号途径进行归纳，并进一步讨论当前研究存在的局限性和可能的解决方法，以期为植物精油在结直肠癌防治中的深入研究以及开发应用提供参考依据。

Despite there is great advances in treatment of colorectal cancer in the past decades, but the adverse reaction, drug resistance and high treatment cost of chemoradiotherapy are still the main limiting factors for the treatment of colorectal cancer. Plant essential oils with antitumor pharmacological activity have gained much attention in the development of anti-colorectal cancer drugs due to their low toxicity and wide range of sources. By summarizing and analyzing the relevant literatures, it was found that some plant essential oils and their active components could effectively prevent and treat colorectal cancer. Their mechanisms involve inhibiting chronic inflammation, decreasing antioxidant stress, prohibiting cell proliferation, inducing cell apoptosis, blocking cell cycle, restraining angiogenesis, and improving the structure of gut microflora, and the involved molecular pathways include nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling pathway, Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular regulated kinases (ERK) signaling pathway, etc. Mechanisms and molecular pathways of plant essential oils and their active components in prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer were summarized in this paper, and the limitations of current research and the possible solutions were further discussed, in order to provide reference for in-depth research, development and application of plant essential oils in the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer.

R285.5

四川省科技厅项目（2019YFH0152）；中国博士后科学基金第71批面上资助“地区专项支持计划”（2022MD713683）