ArticleBreast cancer (Dove Medical Press)2026
Identification of Potential Therapeutic Targets for Xihuang Pill in Breast Cancer: A Mendelian Randomization and Experimental Study.
Article in Breast cancer (Dove Medical Press), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
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
Purpose: Breast cancer remains a major threat to women's health worldwide, with drug resistance posing a significant challenge to treatment efficacy. Xihuang Pill (XHP), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, has demonstrated anti-tumor potential in breast cancer. However, its complex composition makes elucidating its precise molecular mechanisms difficult. This study aimed to identify key targets and mechanisms of XHP against breast cancer by integrating network pharmacology with Mendelian randomization analyses based on large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) datasets, and thereby overcoming the subjectivity and uncertainty inherent in traditional target prediction. Methods: Active ingredients and targets of XHP were retrieved from TCMSP and SymMap databases. Breast cancer risk-related genes were identified using summary-data-based MR (SMR) analysis integrating blood eQTL data from eQTLGen and GWAS data from FinnGen. Overlapping targets between XHP and breast cancer were analyzed. In vitro experiments, including siRNA knockdown and treatment with XHP-containing serum, were conducted on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells to assess the roles of identified targets on cell proliferation (CCK-8 assay) and migration (wound healing assay), and to verify XHP's effects on target expression (Western blot, qRT-PCR). Results: Network pharmacology identified 383 potential XHP targets. SMR analysis revealed 33 genes significantly associated with breast cancer risk. Intersection analysis pinpointed GSTM1 and SLC22A5 as overlapping targets. Notably, GSTM1 is a key enzyme involved in glutathione metabolism and cellular detoxification, whereas SLC22A5 (OCTN2) is a crucial transporter responsible for carnitine uptake and cellular energy metabolism. MR analysis indicated that higher expression of both genes was associated with reduced breast cancer risk. In vitro, silencing GSTM1 or SLC22A5 promoted proliferation and migration of breast cancer cells. Conversely, XHP-containing serum upregulated GSTM1 and SLC22A5 expression and significantly inhibited cancer cell proliferation and migration. Conclusion: XHP may inhibit breast cancer cell proliferation and migration by upregulating GSTM1 and SLC22A5, offering new insights for precision TCM therapy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.