Anti-breast cancer effects of the Xingxiao Pill are associated with inhibition of the ErbB3/PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, modulation of amino acid metabolism, and promotion of apoptosis.

Zhang Jingyue, Cheng J, Cao F et al. · 2026 · Journal of Ethnopharmacology · Atlas ID ZHANG2026C

What this study shows

Xingxiao Pill inhibited 4T1 breast cancer growth in vitro and in vivo by suppressing ErbB3/PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling and reshaping amino acid metabolism; cinnamic acid and palmitic acid were identified as constituents that bind mTOR.

Abstract

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The Xingxiao Pill (XXP) is a traditional Chinese medicine formula used in tumour therapy. XXP exhibited proliferation-inhibiting activity against eight breast cancer cell lines and both proliferation-inhibiting and apoptosis-promoting activity against 4T1 cells in vitro and in a 4T1 subcutaneous tumour model in vivo. XXP induced mitochondrial apoptosis via the cytochrome C/caspase-9/caspase-3/PARP cascade.

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At a glance

Evidence type	A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Mouse (4T1 subcutaneous model); breast cancer cell lines); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type	4 - Animal Study
Model system	Mouse (4T1 subcutaneous model); breast cancer cell lines
Journal	Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Year	2026
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-08-22
Source	DOI 10.1016/j.jep.2026.122321

Extracted findings

Intervention	Xingxiao Pill (TCM formula); cinnamic acid; palmitic acid
Target	ErbB3/PI3K/AKT/mTOR; amino acid metabolism
Model	Mouse
Effect	Inhibited proliferation and induced caspase-mediated apoptosis; reduced AKT/mTOR phosphorylation

Cite this paper

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Zhang Jingyue, et al. (2026). Anti-breast cancer effects of the Xingxiao Pill are associated with inhibition of the ErbB3/PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, modulation of amino acid metabolism, and promotion of apoptosis. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2026.122321

@article{ZHANG2026C,
  author       = {Zhang Jingyue and Cheng, J. and Cao, F. and others},
  title        = {{Anti-breast cancer effects of the Xingxiao Pill are associated with inhibition of the ErbB3/PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, modulation of amino acid metabolism, and promotion of apoptosis}},
  journal      = {Journal of Ethnopharmacology},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.jep.2026.122321},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper.

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record ZHANG2026C) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/ZHANG2026C/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_ZHANG2026C,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record ZHANG2026C},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/ZHANG2026C/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}