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Nowadays herbal-derived medicines are attracting attention as new sources of drugs with few side effects. Silibinin is a flavonoid compound with chemotheraputic effects on different cancers such as examples in the prostate, lung, colon and breast. In the present study, the cytotoxic effects of silibinin on MCF7 breast cancer cells were investigated. Apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry and the impact of silibinin on the expression of pivotal genes including Bak, P53, P21, BRCA1, BCL-X1 and ATM was analyzed. Treatment for 24h had a significant dose-dependent inhibitory effect on cell growth (p<0.05) with dose-and time-dependent induction of apoptosis (p<0.05). In addition, there were significant increases in BRCA1, ATM, Bak and Bcl-XL gene expression at the mRNA level with different concentrations of silibinin for 24 or 48 h (p<0.05). Taken together, the results suggest that silibinin inhibits the proliferation and induces apoptosis of MCF-7 cells by down-regulating Bak, P53, P21, BRCA1, BCL-Xl and thus may be considered as an effective adjuvant drug to produce a better chemopreventive response for the cancer therapy.

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<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Radiation dermatitis (RD) is a side effect of radiation therapy (RT) which is experienced by over 90% of patients being treated for breast cancer. The current clinical trial was conducted to measure the preventative effects of a boron-based gel on several different clinical outcomes (dermatitis, erythema, dry desquamation, and moist desquamation) after 25 radiotherapy sessions. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This research used a double-blind parallel-group design with a placebo control (<i>n</i> = 76) and randomized group (<i>n</i> = 181), with all participants being between 18 and 75 years old. Fifteen minutes before each radiotherapy, participants in the intervention group were given a gel containing 3% sodium pentaborate pentahydrate, while those in the placebo group received a gel with no chemical substance. Dermatitis, erythema, dry desquamation, and moist desquamation were compared between the 2 groups. <b><i>Results:</i></b> At baseline, there were no significant differences between the groups (<i>p</i> &#x3e; 0.05), except for body mass index. After 14 days of treatment, dermatitis (98.7% vs. 9.9%; <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001), erythema (96.1% vs. 12.2%; <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001), dry desquamation (50% vs. 3.9%; <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001), and moist desquamation (18.4% vs. 0.6%; <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001) were much more common in the placebo group than the intervention group. To prevent dermatitis, erythema, dry desquamation, and moist desquamation in 1 patient, on average, 1.1 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1–1.2), 1.2 (95% CI: 1.1–1.3), 2.2 (95% CI: 1.7–2.9), and 5.6 (95% CI: 3.8–11.0) patients need to be treated, respectively. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The boron-based gel has a significant preventive effect on several categories of RD which might be used by clinicians in breast cancer.

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