Table 1.

Mechanisms of anti-tumor effect of Shikonin.

Key Numbers	Tumor Type	Mechanism of Action	References
1	Lung cancer	Inhibits the viability, proliferation, invasion, and migration of non-small cell lung cancer A549 and PC9 cells.	[37]
2	Pancreatic cancer	Shikonin inhibits the activation of PAK1 and its downstream signaling pathway proteins.	[38]
3	Chondrosarcoma	It can inhibit pSTAT3 and increase pAKT, MAPKs, pERK, pJNK, and p-p38 MAPK.	[39]
4	Glioma	Tumor apoptosis mediated by interference with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress; induction of mitochondrial outer membrane permeability (MOMP) triggers apoptosis of cancer cells.	[40]
5	Melanoma	Apoptosis was induced by the MAPK pathway.	[41]
6	Triple-negative breast cancer	The growth of human triple-negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 and mouse triple-negative breast cancer cell line 4T1 was inhibited.	[42]
7	Liver cancer	The miR-106b/SMAD7/TGF-β signaling pathway inhibits cell progression and EMT and accelerates cell death.	[43]
8	Ovarian cancer	Shikonin inhibited cell viability, migration, and invasion of type 2 ovarian cancer cells. The expression of CSC-related markers and the number of cocci colonies were reduced. The tumorigenicity of Kuramochi cells was also reduced.	[44]