Unveiling the therapeutic potential of silibinin in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma via network pharmacology

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) exhibits a poor prognosis, with 5-year survival rates below 50%. This study employed network pharmacology to investigate the anti-HNSCC mechanism of silibinin, a plant-derived compound with established anticancer activity. We obtained potential silibinin targets from pharmacological databases and HNSCC-associated targets from TCGA. We performed Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses to identify critical pathways and biological processes. Through protein-protein interaction (PPI) network screening, we selected hub genes for molecular docking validation. We evaluated silibinin's effects on HNSCC proliferation and invasion using CCK-8 assays, colony formation tests, and cell invasion experiments. Our data suggested that silibinin may inhibit HNSCC progression through modulation of the interleukin-17 signaling pathway. Molecular docking confirmed strong binding affinity between silibinin and key targets, supporting its potential as an HNSCC therapeutic agent.