Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Aug 24, 2025; 16(8): 108279
Published online Aug 24, 2025. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i8.108279
Rosmarinic acid as a chemosensitizer in colorectal cancer: Targeting nuclear factor-kappa B pathway to overcome chemoresistance
Yun-Yun Xu, Wen-Jing Chen, Yu-Jie Cai, Feng Lin, Zhi-Peng He
Yun-Yun Xu, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, Jiangxi Province, China
Wen-Jing Chen, Yu-Jie Cai, School of Pharmacy, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, Jiangxi Province, China
Feng Lin, Zhi-Peng He, Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230000, Anhui Province, China
Co-first authors: Yun-Yun Xu and Wen-Jing Chen.
Co-corresponding authors: Feng Lin and Zhi-Peng He.
Author contributions: Xu YY and Chen WJ contributed equally to this manuscript as co-first authors of this manuscript; He ZP and Lin F equally conceptualized and drafted the first draft of the editorial, contributed to writing and editing the final draft of the manuscript, and as co-corresponding authors of this article; Xu YY, Chen WJ, and Cai YJ contributed to the discussion and conception of the manuscriptAll the authors critically revised and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zhi-Peng He, MD, PhD, Visiting Professor, Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 218 Jixi Road, Shushan District, Hefei 230000, Anhui Province, China. hezhipeng0901@163.com
Received: April 10, 2025
Revised: May 8, 2025
Accepted: June 30, 2025
Published online: August 24, 2025
Processing time: 132 Days and 22.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: This study demonstrates that rosmarinic acid (RA), a natural polyphenol, suppresses colorectal cancer progression by inhibiting nuclear factor-kappa B signaling and synergizes with chemotherapeutics (5-fluorouracil/oxaliplatin) to overcome drug resistance. RA’s dual role as a cytotoxic agent and chemosensitizer highlights its potential in precision oncology. While in vitro findings are promising, future research must address RA’s bioavailability, in vivo efficacy, and clinical safety to translate this natural compound into actionable colorectal cancer therapies.