[Tumor stem cells may be the final target of traditional Chinese medicine in preventing cancer recurrence and metastasis].

The recurrence and metastasis of tumor are the main reasons for the failure in malignant tumor treatments, searching for the best target to prevent the tumor recurrence and metastasis is the focus of tumor research. Research showed that tumor stem cells are the vital factor of malignant tumor recurrence and metastasis, there is no method of target regulating the function of tumor stem cells now. Traditional Chinese Medicine have played a good role in preventing tumor recurrence and metastasis according to the previous studies, so we can suppose that tumor stem cells may be the final target of TCM in preventing tumor recurrence and metastasis. To expand the effect and study the mechanism of action we should introduce the tumor stem cells into the study of TCM in treating malignant tumor.