Silibinin (an ingredient in Milk Thistle)
| Property | Information |
|---|---|
| Drug Name | Silibinin (Silymarin) |
| FDA Approval | No |
| Used for | Liver and biliary disorders, adjunct agent in cancer treatment |
| Clinical Trial Phase | Investigated primarily in hepatitis and cirrhosis; small studies in cancers such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia, prostate cancer, breast cancer, head and neck cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma |
| Clinical Trial Explanation | Not specified |
| Common Side Effects | Few reported; mainly gastrointestinal disturbances |
| OS without | Not specified |
| OS with | Not specified |
| PFS without | Not specified |
| PFS with | Not specified |
| Usefulness Rating | Under investigation; shown to have anti-cancer effects in laboratory studies |
| Usefulness Explanation | Not specified |
| Toxicity Level | Low |
| Toxicity Explanation | Silibinin is considered to have few side effects, with gastrointestinal disturbances being the most common. |
Notes: Silibinin, the active component of Milk Thistle, has shown potential in stabilizing cellular membranes, stimulating detoxification pathways, and inhibiting cancer cell growth in laboratory studies. It has a long history of use for liver and biliary disorders. Clinical trials in cancer are limited but suggest a potential role in enhancing chemotherapy efficacy and reducing toxicity.
Links: * [Milk Thistle (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version - NCI](https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/milk-thistle-pdq)
From Ben Williams Book: Silibinin (an ingredient of Milk Thistle)
Silymarin is an extract from the milk thistle plant that has been used extensively in Europe as an antidote for liver toxicity, due to mushroom poisoning and overdoses of tylenol. Its active ingredient is a molecule called silibinin. Recently a great deal of laboratory research has shown it to have anti-cancer effects, which recently have been reviewed (275). Like genistein and quercetin it is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, but it appears to have multiple other effects, including the inhibition of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) that contributes to the development of chemoresistance (276) (see the section on tamoxifen), and the inhibition of angiogenesis (277). It also inhibits the 5- lipoxygenase inflammatory pathway and suppresses nuclear factor kappa B, which is a primary antagonist to apoptosis (278). It also appears to protect against common chemotherapy toxicities (279), while at the same time increasing the effectiveness of �chemotherapy.Property "Has original text" (as page type) with input value "Silibinin (an ingredient of Milk Thistle)</br></br>Silymarin is an extract from the milk thistle plant that has been used extensively in</br>Europe as an antidote for liver toxicity, due to mushroom poisoning and overdoses of</br>tylenol. Its active ingredient is a molecule called silibinin. Recently a great deal of</br>laboratory research has shown it to have anti-cancer effects, which recently have been</br>reviewed (275). Like genistein and quercetin it is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, but it</br>appears to have multiple other effects, including the inhibition of the insulin-like growth</br>factor (IGF) that contributes to the development of chemoresistance (276) (see the section</br>on tamoxifen), and the inhibition of angiogenesis (277). It also inhibits the 5-</br>lipoxygenase inflammatory pathway and suppresses nuclear factor kappa B, which is a</br>primary antagonist to apoptosis (278). It also appears to protect against common</br>chemotherapy toxicities (279), while at the same time increasing the effectiveness of</br>�chemotherapy." contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.
