ReviewFrontiers in pharmacology2016
Anti-Cancer Properties of the Naturally Occurring Aphrodisiacs: Icariin and Its Derivatives.
Review in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
76 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Neuroprotective effects of icariin in animal models of depression and anxiety: a systematic review of preclinical studies.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Pooled it
- Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship Approaches for Exploring the Anticancer Potential of Flavonoids.Chemistry & biodiversity · 2026Review
- Icariin: Multi-target natural products for the multi-stage prevention and treatment of breast cancer (Review).Molecular and clinical oncology · 2026Review
- Icariside II suppresses NF-κB/STAT3 signaling to prevent the progression of chronic atrophic gastritis toward gastric cancer.Journal of clinical biochemistry and nutrition · 2026Article
- Clinical efficacy and safety of icaritin in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a real-world study.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- A novel prenylflavonoid with efficacy in cancer therapy by targeting ceramide-orchestrated signaling.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Enhanced Stability of Multi-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles and Potential Anticancer Efficacy on Human Cervical Cancer Cells.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Inhalable TPGS/DPPC Micelles Coloaded with Curcumin and Icariin for Targeted Lung Cancer Therapy.ACS omega · 2025Article
- Porous PLGA microspheres for the inhalation delivery of icariin and miR-23b in the treatment of metastatic lung cancer.Asian journal of pharmaceutical sciences · 2025Article
- High-throughput metabolomics exploring the pharmacological effects and mechanism of icariin on rheumatoid arthritis rat based on ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2025Article
- Phytomolecules from Herbs: Possible Effective Way for the Treatment of Liver Cancer.Current topics in medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- Biologically Active Compounds of Malaysian Medicinal and Aromatic Plants.Progress in the chemistry of organic natural products · 2025Review
- Regulated Cell Death in Lenvatinib Resistance of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: from Molecular Mechanisms to Therapeutic Strategies.International journal of biological sciences · 2025Review
- Small-molecule-based targeted therapy in liver cancer.Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2024Review
- Icariin exerts anti-tumor activity by inducing autophagy via AMPK/mTOR/ULK1 pathway in triple-negative breast cancer.Cancer cell international · 2024Article
- Icariin Attenuates Human Renal Tubular Epithelial Cell Senescence by Targeting PAK2Current pharmaceutical biotechnology · 2024Article
- Advancements in the Biotransformation and Biosynthesis of the Primary Active Flavonoids Derived fromMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Icariin Supplementation Suppresses the Markers of Ferroptosis and Attenuates the Progression of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis in Mice Fed a Methionine Choline-Deficient Diet.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Bone mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes involved co-delivery and synergism effect with icariin via mussel-inspired multifunctional hydrogel for cartilage protection.Asian journal of pharmaceutical sciences · 2023Article
- Highly efficient bioconversion of icariin to icaritin by whole-cell catalysis.Microbial cell factories · 2023Article
16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Epimedium (family Berberidaceae), commonly known as Horny Goat Weed or Yin Yang Huo, is commonly used as a tonic, aphrodisiac, anti-rheumatic and anti-cancer agent in traditional herbal formulations in Asian countries such as China, Japan, and Korea. The major bioactive compounds present within this plant include icariin, icaritin and icariside II. Although it is best known for its aphrodisiac properties, scientific and pharmacological studies suggest it possesses broad therapeutic capabilities, especially for enhancing reproductive function and osteoprotective, neuroprotective, cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory and immunoprotective effects. In recent years, there has been great interest in scientific investigation of the purported anti-cancer properties of icariin and its derivatives. Data from in vitro and in vivo studies suggests these compounds demonstrate anti-cancer activity against a wide range of cancer cells which occurs through various mechanisms such as apoptosis, cell cycle modulation, anti-angiogenesis, anti-metastasis and immunomodulation. Of note, they are efficient at targeting cancer stem cells and drug-resistant cancer cells. These are highly desirable properties to be emulated in the development of novel anti-cancer drugs in combatting the emergence of drug resistance and overcoming the limited efficacy of current standard treatment. This review aims to summarize the anti-cancer mechanisms of icariin and its derivatives with reference to the published literature. The currently utilized applications of icariin and its derivatives in cancer treatment are explored with reference to existing patents. Based on the data compiled, icariin and its derivatives are shown to be compounds with tremendous potential for the development of new anti-cancer drugs.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.