Table 2.

Therapeutic strategies for improving sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiotherapy with the use of saikosaponins in cancer therapy. Related references are listed. DOX: doxorubicin; VCR: vincristine; PAC: paclitaxel; CDDP: cisplatin; ET: etoposide; IR: ionizing radiation; GSH: glutathione; MDA: malondialdehyde.

Saikosaponins	Therapy	Mode of action	Target molecules	Cancer model	Ref.
SSa	DOX, VCR, PAC	Apoptosis	P-gp	MDR breast & liver cancer	[32]
	CDDP	Apoptosis	ROS	Cervical & ovarian & lung cancer	[35]
SSb	ET	Apoptosis, DNA damage	NF-κB	Melanoma	[37]
SSd	DOX	Cytotoxicity	P-gp	MDR breast cancer	[33]
	DOX	Cytotoxicity	P-gp	MDR breast cancer	[34]
	CDDP	Apoptosis	ROS	Cervical & ovarian & lung cancer	[35]
	TNF-α	Apoptosis	NF-κB	Cervical & liver cancer	[36]
	IR	G1 phase arrest, apoptosis	p53, Bax, Bcl-2	Liver cancer	[38]
	IR	Apoptosis	HIF-1α, p53, Bax, Bcl-2	Liver cancer	[39]
	IR	DNA damage	GSH, MDA	Liver cancer	[40]