Silymarin (Milk Thistle) silibinin / eff Cancer Research Results

SIL, Silymarin (Milk Thistle) silibinin: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:
Silymarin (Milk Thistle) Flowering herb related to daisy and ragweed family.
Silibinin (INN), also known as silybin is the major active constituent of silymarin, a standardized extract of the milk thistle seeds.
-a flavonoid combination of 65–80% of seven flavolignans; the most important of these include silybin, isosilybin, silychristin, isosilychristin, and silydianin. Silybin is the most abundant compound in around 50–70% in isoforms silybin A and silybin B

-Note half-life 6hrs?.
BioAv not soluble in water, low bioAv (1%). 240mg yielded only 0.34ug/ml plasma level. oral administration of SM (equivalent to 120 mg silibinin), total (unconjugated + conjugated) silibinin concentration in plasma was 1.1–1.3 μg/mL, so can not achieve levels used in most in-vitro studies.
Pathways:
- results for both inducing and reducing ROS in cancer cells. In normal cell seems to consistently lower ROS. Reports show both ROS↑ and ROS↓ in cancer models; systemic pro-oxidant effects may require higher exposures than typical oral dosing, but local or combination contexts may differ. (level in GUT could be much higher (800uM).
- ROS↑ related: MMP↓(ΔΨm), Ca+2↑, Cyt‑c↑, Caspases↑, DNA damage↑, cl-PARP↑,
- Raises AntiOxidant defense in Normal Cells: ROS↓, NRF2↑, SOD↑, GSH↑, Catalase↑,
- lowers Inflammation : NF-kB↓, COX2↓, p38↓(context-dependent; often stress-activated), Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines : NLRP3↓, IL-1β↓, TNF-α↓, IL-6↓, IL-8↓
- inhibit Growth/Metastases : TumMeta↓, TumCG↓, EMT↓, MMPs↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, TIMP2, uPA↓, VEGF↓, FAK↓, NF-κB↓, CXCR4↓, TGF-β↓, α-SMA↓, ERK↓
- reactivate genes thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth : HDAC↓, DNMTs↓, P53↑, HSP↓,
- cause Cell cycle arrest : TumCCA↑, cyclin D1↓, cyclin E↓, CDK2↓, CDK4↓,
- inhibits Migration/Invasion : TumCMig↓, TumCI↓, TNF-α↓, FAK↓, ERK↓, EMT↓,
- inhibits glycolysis and ATP depletion : HIF-1α↓, PKM2↓, cMyc↓, GLUT1↓, LDH↓, LDHA↓, HK2↓, PFKs↓, GRP78↑(ER stress), Glucose↓, GlucoseCon↓
- inhibits angiogenesis↓ : VEGF↓, HIF-1α↓, Notch↓, PDGF↓, EGFR↓,
- inhibits Cancer Stem Cells : CSC↓, Hh↓, GLi1↓, β-catenin↓, Notch2↓, OCT4↓,
- Others: PI3K↓, AKT↓, JAK↓, STAT↓, Wnt↓, β-catenin↓, AMPK, ERK↓, JNK, - SREBP (related to cholesterol).
- Synergies: chemo-sensitization, chemoProtective, RadioSensitizer, RadioProtective, Others(review target notes), Neuroprotective, Cognitive, Renoprotection, Hepatoprotective, CardioProtective,

- Selectivity: Cancer Cells vs Normal Cells

Rank Pathway / Axis Cancer Cells Normal Cells TSF Primary Effect Notes / Interpretation
1 ROS / redox buffering + mitochondrial protection Often ↑ stress susceptibility; can support apoptosis when survival signaling is blocked ↓ oxidative stress; mitochondrial protection P, R, G Context-selective redox modulation Silymarin is classically cytoprotective/antioxidant in normal tissues (notably liver), while in tumors it can weaken pro-survival adaptation and increase vulnerability to stressors and therapy.
2 Intrinsic apoptosis (mitochondria → caspases) ↑ apoptosis signaling; ↑ caspase activation ↔ minimal activation G Cell death execution Common downstream outcome in cancer models: apoptosis increases after earlier signaling/redox shifts and/or checkpoint disruption.
3 Cell-cycle control (cyclins/CDKs; checkpoints) ↑ arrest (G1/S or G2/M depending on model) ↔ G Cytostasis Typically observed as reduced proliferation with checkpoint engagement; timing usually later than kinase phosphorylation changes.
4 NF-κB inflammatory transcription ↓ NF-κB activity; ↓ inflammatory/pro-survival tone ↔ or protective anti-inflammatory effect R, G Anti-inflammatory / anti-survival transcription NF-κB suppression can reduce tumor-promoting inflammation and blunt stress-adaptive survival programs.
5 JAK/STAT3 axis (incl. PD-L1 / immune escape programs in some models) ↓ STAT3 signaling (context); may ↓ PD-L1 in certain tumor contexts ↔ R, G Reduced survival + immune-evasion signaling Reported to attenuate STAT3-driven tumor programs and, in some contexts, reduce immune-suppressive signaling (model dependent).
6 PI3K → AKT → mTOR survival / growth signaling ↓ PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling (context) ↔ R, G Growth/survival suppression Reduced PI3K/AKT/mTOR tone increases sensitivity to apoptosis and can reinforce cell-cycle arrest.
7 MAPK re-wiring (ERK/p38/JNK balance) Stress-MAPK shifts; ERK tone often reduced or re-patterned ↔ P, R, G Signal reprogramming Early phosphorylation shifts can precede later gene-expression changes; exact ERK direction is model and dose dependent.
8 Angiogenesis (VEGF and angiogenic factors) ↓ VEGF / angiogenesis outputs ↔ G Anti-angiogenic support Typically reflected in reduced pro-angiogenic expression/secretion and angiogenesis-related phenotypes over longer windows.
9 EMT / invasion / migration programs (incl. TGF-β/Smad-associated EMT in some systems) ↓ EMT markers; ↓ migration/invasion ↔ G Anti-invasive phenotype Often presents as restoration of epithelial markers and suppression of migration/invasion assays; commonly a later phenotype-level outcome.
10 Xenobiotic handling (Phase I/II enzymes; cytoprotection / chemoprevention framing) May alter carcinogen activation/detox balance ↑ detox / cytoprotection against xenobiotics G Chemopreventive protection A key “dual strategy” theme: protection of normal tissue from toxins/therapy while modulating tumor response pathways.
11 Drug resistance / efflux (MDR phenotype; P-gp-related resistance in some models) May ↓ functional MDR and ↑ chemo sensitivity (context) ↔ R, G Chemo-sensitization support Reported synergy with chemotherapy in resistant tumor settings; transporter direction can be context-specific, so present as “reported to reduce functional resistance” rather than a universal single-transporter claim.
12 Immune microenvironment signaling (cytokines / macrophage recruitment in some models) May ↓ pro-tumor cytokine programs and recruitment signals (context) ↔ G Anti-inflammatory tumor microenvironment shift Immune-modulatory effects are increasingly discussed, but they are more model-dependent and typically show on longer time scales.

Time-Scale Flag (TSF): P / R / G

  • P: 0–30 min (primary/physical–chemical effects; rapid signaling / phosphorylation shifts)
  • R: 30 min–3 hr (redox signaling + acute stress-response signaling)
  • G: >3 hr (gene-regulatory adaptation and phenotype-level outcomes)
eff, efficacy: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type:
Power to enhance an anti cancer effect
Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
134- CUR,  RES,  MEL,  SIL,    Thioredoxin 1 modulates apoptosis induced by bioactive compounds in prostate cancer cells
- in-vitro, Pca, LNCaP - in-vitro, Pca, PC3
Apoptosis↑, ROS↑, Trx1↓, TumCG↓, eff↓, TXNIP↑,
3578- CUR,  SIL,    Curcumin, but not its degradation products, in combination with silibinin is primarily responsible for the inhibition of colon cancer cell proliferation
- in-vitro, CRC, DLD1
eff↑, BioAv↓, TumCG↓,
3294- SIL,    Silymarin: a review on paving the way towards promising pharmacological agent
- Review, Nor, NA - Review, Arthritis, NA
*hepatoP↑, *Inflam↓, *chemoP↑, *glucose↓, *antiOx↑, *ROS↓, *ACC↓, *FASN↓, *radioP↑, *NF-kB↓, *TGF-β↓, *AST↓, *α-SMA↝, *eff↑, *neuroP↑, eff↑, ROS↓,
3293- SIL,    Silymarin (milk thistle extract) as a therapeutic agent in gastrointestinal cancer
- Review, Var, NA
hepatoP↑, TumMeta↓, Inflam↓, chemoP↑, radioP↑, Half-Life↝, *GSTs↑, p‑JNK↑, BAX↑, p‑p38↑, cl‑PARP↑, Bcl-2↓, p‑ERK↓, TumVol↓, eff↑, TumCCA↑, STAT3↓, Mcl-1↓, survivin↓, Bcl-xL↓, Casp3↑, Casp9↑, eff↑, CXCR4↓, Dose↝,
3292- SIL,  Fe,    Anti-tumor activity of silymarin nanoliposomes in combination with iron: In vitro and in vivo study
- in-vitro, BC, 4T1 - in-vivo, BC, 4T1
*antiOx↑, ROS↑, OS↑, Weight↑, TumVol↓, eff↑, Fenton↑,
3289- SIL,    Silymarin: a promising modulator of apoptosis and survival signaling in cancer
- Review, Var, NA
*BioAv↝, *BioAv↓, Fas↑, FasL↑, FADD↑, pro‑Casp8↑, Apoptosis↑, DR5↑, Bcl-2↑, BAX↑, Casp3↑, PI3K↓, FOXM1↓, p‑mTOR↓, p‑P70S6K↓, Hif1a↓, Akt↑, angioG↓, STAT3↓, NF-kB↓, lipid-P↓, eff↑, CDK1↓, survivin↓, CycB/CCNB1↓, Mcl-1↓, Casp9↑, AP-1↓, BioAv↑,
3282- SIL,    Role of Silymarin in Cancer Treatment: Facts, Hypotheses, and Questions
- Review, NA, NA
hepatoP↑, AntiCan↑, TumCMig↓, Hif1a↓, selectivity↑, toxicity∅, *antiOx↑, *Inflam↓, TumCCA↑, P21↑, CDK4↓, NF-kB↓, ERK↓, PSA↓, TumCG↓, p27↑, COX2↓, IL1↓, VEGF↓, IGFBP3↑, AR↓, STAT3↓, Telomerase↓, Cyt‑c↑, Casp↑, eff↝, HDAC↓, HATs↑, Zeb1↓, E-cadherin↑, miR-203↑, NHE1↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, PGE2↓, Vim↓, Wnt↓, angioG↓, VEGF↓, *TIMP1↓, EMT↓, TGF-β↓, CD44↓, EGFR↓, PDGF↓, *IL8↓, SREBP1↓, MMP↓, ATP↓, uPA↓, PD-L1↓, NOTCH↓, *SIRT1↑, SIRT1↓, CA↓, Ca+2↑, chemoP↑, cardioP↑, Dose↝, Half-Life↝, BioAv↓, BioAv↓, BioAv↓, toxicity↝, Half-Life↓, ROS↓, FAK↓,
3307- SIL,    Flavolignans from Silymarin as Nrf2 Bioactivators and Their Therapeutic Applications
- Review, Var, NA
*NRF2↑, *antiOx↑, *chemoP↑, *Inflam↓, *BioAv↑, eff↑, *NQO1↑, TNF-α↓, IL6↓, *GSH↑, *ROS↓, *MDA↓, eff↑, *hepatoP↑, *GPx↑, *SOD↑, *Catalase↑, *HO-1↑, *neuroP↑,
3301- SIL,    Critical review of therapeutic potential of silymarin in cancer: A bioactive polyphenolic flavonoid
- Review, Var, NA
Inflam↓, TumCCA↑, Apoptosis↓, TumMeta↓, TumCG↓, angioG↓, chemoP↑, radioP↑, p‑ERK↓, p‑p38↓, p‑JNK↓, P53↑, Bcl-2↓, Bcl-xL↓, TGF-β↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, E-cadherin↑, Wnt↓, Vim↓, VEGF↓, IL6↓, STAT3↓, *ROS↓, IL1β↓, PGE2↓, CDK1↓, CycB/CCNB1↓, survivin↓, Mcl-1↓, Casp3↑, Casp9↑, cMyc↓, COX2↓, Hif1a↓, CXCR4↓, CSCs↓, EMT↓, N-cadherin↓, PCNA↓, cycD1/CCND1↓, ROS↑, eff↑, eff↑, eff↑, HER2/EBBR2↓,
3298- SIL,    Silibinin, a natural flavonoid, induces autophagy via ROS-dependent mitochondrial dysfunction and loss of ATP involving BNIP3 in human MCF7 breast cancer cells
- in-vitro, BC, MCF-7
LC3II↑, Beclin-1↑, Bcl-2↓, ROS↑, MMP↓, ATP↓, eff↓, BNIP3?, TumAuto↑, eff↑,

Showing Research Papers: 1 to 10 of 10

* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 10

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

Fenton↑, 1,   lipid-P↓, 1,   ROS↓, 2,   ROS↑, 4,   Trx1↓, 1,  

Mitochondria & Bioenergetics ⓘ

ATP↓, 2,   MMP↓, 2,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis ⓘ

cMyc↓, 1,   SIRT1↓, 1,   SREBP1↓, 1,  

Cell Death ⓘ

Akt↑, 1,   Apoptosis↓, 1,   Apoptosis↑, 2,   BAX↑, 2,   Bcl-2↓, 3,   Bcl-2↑, 1,   Bcl-xL↓, 2,   Casp↑, 1,   Casp3↑, 3,   pro‑Casp8↑, 1,   Casp9↑, 3,   Cyt‑c↑, 1,   DR5↑, 1,   FADD↑, 1,   Fas↑, 1,   FasL↑, 1,   p‑JNK↓, 1,   p‑JNK↑, 1,   Mcl-1↓, 3,   p27↑, 1,   p‑p38↓, 1,   p‑p38↑, 1,   survivin↓, 3,   Telomerase↓, 1,  

Kinase & Signal Transduction ⓘ

HER2/EBBR2↓, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics ⓘ

HATs↑, 1,  

Autophagy & Lysosomes ⓘ

Beclin-1↑, 1,   BNIP3?, 1,   LC3II↑, 1,   TumAuto↑, 1,  

DNA Damage & Repair ⓘ

P53↑, 1,   cl‑PARP↑, 1,   PCNA↓, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence ⓘ

CDK1↓, 2,   CDK4↓, 1,   CycB/CCNB1↓, 2,   cycD1/CCND1↓, 1,   P21↑, 1,   TumCCA↑, 3,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State ⓘ

CD44↓, 1,   CSCs↓, 1,   EMT↓, 2,   ERK↓, 1,   p‑ERK↓, 2,   FOXM1↓, 1,   HDAC↓, 1,   IGFBP3↑, 1,   p‑mTOR↓, 1,   NOTCH↓, 1,   p‑P70S6K↓, 1,   PI3K↓, 1,   STAT3↓, 4,   TumCG↓, 4,   Wnt↓, 2,  

Migration ⓘ

AP-1↓, 1,   CA↓, 1,   Ca+2↑, 1,   E-cadherin↑, 2,   FAK↓, 1,   miR-203↑, 1,   MMP2↓, 2,   MMP9↓, 2,   N-cadherin↓, 1,   PDGF↓, 1,   TGF-β↓, 2,   TumCMig↓, 1,   TumMeta↓, 2,   TXNIP↑, 1,   uPA↓, 1,   Vim↓, 2,   Zeb1↓, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature ⓘ

angioG↓, 3,   EGFR↓, 1,   Hif1a↓, 3,   VEGF↓, 3,  

Barriers & Transport ⓘ

NHE1↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

COX2↓, 2,   CXCR4↓, 2,   IL1↓, 1,   IL1β↓, 1,   IL6↓, 2,   Inflam↓, 2,   NF-kB↓, 2,   PD-L1↓, 1,   PGE2↓, 2,   PSA↓, 1,   TNF-α↓, 1,  

Hormonal & Nuclear Receptors ⓘ

AR↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance ⓘ

BioAv↓, 4,   BioAv↑, 1,   Dose↝, 2,   eff↓, 2,   eff↑, 12,   eff↝, 1,   Half-Life↓, 1,   Half-Life↝, 2,   selectivity↑, 1,  

Clinical Biomarkers ⓘ

AR↓, 1,   EGFR↓, 1,   FOXM1↓, 1,   HER2/EBBR2↓, 1,   IL6↓, 2,   PD-L1↓, 1,   PSA↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes ⓘ

AntiCan↑, 1,   cardioP↑, 1,   chemoP↑, 3,   hepatoP↑, 2,   OS↑, 1,   radioP↑, 2,   toxicity↝, 1,   toxicity∅, 1,   TumVol↓, 2,   Weight↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 124

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

antiOx↑, 4,   Catalase↑, 1,   GPx↑, 1,   GSH↑, 1,   GSTs↑, 1,   HO-1↑, 1,   MDA↓, 1,   NQO1↑, 1,   NRF2↑, 1,   ROS↓, 3,   SOD↑, 1,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis ⓘ

ACC↓, 1,   FASN↓, 1,   glucose↓, 1,   SIRT1↑, 1,  

Migration ⓘ

TGF-β↓, 1,   TIMP1↓, 1,   α-SMA↝, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

IL8↓, 1,   Inflam↓, 3,   NF-kB↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance ⓘ

BioAv↓, 1,   BioAv↑, 1,   BioAv↝, 1,   eff↑, 1,  

Clinical Biomarkers ⓘ

AST↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes ⓘ

chemoP↑, 2,   hepatoP↑, 2,   neuroP↑, 2,   radioP↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 30

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: eff, efficacy
10 Silymarin (Milk Thistle) silibinin
2 Curcumin
1 Resveratrol
1 Melatonin
1 Iron
Query results interpretion may depend on "conditions" listed in the research papers.
Such Conditions may include : 
  -low or high Dose
  -format for product, such as nano of lipid formations
  -different cell line effects
  -synergies with other products 
  -if effect was for normal or cancerous cells

Filter Conditions: Pro/AntiFlg:%  IllCat:%  CanType:%  Cells:%  prod#:154  Target#:961  State#:%  Dir#:%
  wNotes=0  sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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