Immunomodulatory and antitumor effects of shilajit and glycine: Natural metabolic modulators targeting breast and liver cancer

Table 1 Mechanistic overview of shilajit in cancer

Mechanism	Molecular target/pathway	Preclinical evidence	Potential clinical relevance
Apoptosis induction	Caspase-3, Bax/Bcl-2	Shilajit extracts trigger apoptosis in breast and liver cancer cells	Enhances cytotoxicity, tumor selectivity
ROS modulation	Mitochondria, glutathione	Increased ROS in malignant cells, reduced oxidative stress in normal cells	Tumor-specific redox modulation
Anti-angiogenesis	VEGF, endothelial proliferation	Inhibition of angiogenesis in vitro	Prevents tumor vascularization
NF-κB suppression	NF-κB p65 subunit	Reduced transcription of IL-6, TNF-α	Immunomodulation, sensitization to ICIs
Immunomodulation	Macrophages, antibodies	Bidirectional immune regulation	May reduce therapy toxicity, enhance immunity

Bax: B-cell lymphoma/Leukemia-2 family-associated X protein; Bcl-2: B-cell lymphoma/Leukemia-2 family; NF-κB: Nuclear factor-kappa B; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; ROS: Reactive oxygen species; TNF: Tumor necrosis factor; IL: Interleukin; ICI: Immune checkpoint inhibitor.