Integrated network pharmacology and experimental verification to explore the potential mechanism of San Ying decoction for treating triple-negative breast cancer

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used to treat triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a breast cancer subtype with poor prognosis. Clinical studies have verified that the Sanyingfang formula (SYF), a TCM prescription, has obvious effects on inhibiting breast cancer recurrence and metastasis, prolonging patient survival, and reducing clinical symptoms. However, its active ingredients and molecular mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, the active ingredients of each herbal medicine composing SYF and their target proteins are obtained from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database. Breast cancer-related genes are obtained from the GeneCards database. Major targets and pathways related to SYF treatment in breast cancer are identified by analyzing the above data. By conducting molecular docking analysis, we find that the active ingredients quercetin and luteolin bind well to the key targets KDR1, PPARG, SOD1, and VCAM1. In vitro experiments verify that SYF can reduce the proliferation, migration, and invasion ability of TNBC cells. Using a TNBC xenograft mouse model, we show that SYF could delay tumor growth and effectively inhibit the occurrence of breast cancer lung metastasis in vivo. PPARG, SOD1, KDR1, and VCAM1 are all regulated by SYF and may play important roles in SYF-mediated inhibition of TNBC recurrence and metastasis.