Mechanistic Role of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi in Breast Cancer Therapy

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women, and exhibits high metastasis, recurrence and fatality rates. Novel therapies for breast cancer are constantly emerging, such as targeted therapy, oncolytic virotherapy, and immunotherapy. Despite their potential, these new therapies are still in their infancy, and chemotherapy remains the standard treatment for breast cancer. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop safe and efficient treatment drugs or adjuvants for breast cancer treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long clinical history in China, in which Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi exhibits favorable antibreast cancer activities. We therefore conducted a systematic review of the available literature to better understand the molecular mechanisms of S. baicalensis in breast cancer treatment. S. baicalensis and its active components (baicalein, baicalin, wogonin, wogonoside, oroxylin A and scutellarin) exhibited promising antibreast cancer activity through proliferation inhibition, apoptosis induction, invasion and metastasis blockading, and drug-resistance and non-coding RNA regulation. Additionally, senescence, autophagy, angiogenesis, and glycolysis mechanisms were observed to play a role in their antibreast cancer activity. Furthermore, multiple signaling pathways contributed to the antitumor effects of S. baicalensi, such as the NF-kappa B, Wnt/beta-catenin, SATB1, Bcl2 family proteins, Caspase, PI3K/Akt, mTOR, ERK, p38-MAPK, TGF-beta/Smad, and Hippo/YAP pathways. This review provides valuable insights into the role of S. baicalensis as a breast cancer treatment and acts as a foundation for further investigations in this field.

Automated summary

Breast cancer is a common and deadly malignancy in women. Traditional Chinese medicine, especially Scutellaria baicalensis, has shown promising activity against breast cancer through multiple mechanisms, including proliferation inhibition, apoptosis induction, and modulation of signaling pathways.