Chinese Herb-Drug Interaction Database and Application in Oncology

With the generous support of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, a School of Chinese Medicine team led by Professor Zhaoxiang Bian, Associate Vice-President (Chinese Medicine Development), is developing a brand new “Chinese Herb-Drug Interaction Database”, which comprises information on the interaction between Chinese herbs and Western drugs, particularly those used to treat cancers. The Database aims to provide comprehensive information for Western and Chinese medicine practitioners to make proper clinical decisions.

This three-year project will be conducted by experts from HKBU’s School of Chinese Medicine and the Department of Computer Science, as well as those from CUHK’s School of Pharmacy and the School of Chinese Medicine. The Database will be built with the use of AI and deep-learning predictions, clinical and experimental evidences, and expert recommendations.

A survey conducted by the team shows that more than 50% cancer patients took Chinese herbs before, during and after cancer treatment. Therefore, it is important to understand the herb-drug interaction involved in order to avoid the potential risks to patients.