Author(s)

Cheng Ma ¹, Peter Shaw ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

Corresponding Author

Peter Shaw

ABSTRACT

Babao Dan (BBD), a traditional Chinese patent medicine, has shown antitumour activity against gastric, liver and breast cancers through multi-target kinase signalling.  However, oral cancer differs from these tumours in its chronically inflamed and immunosuppressive microenvironment, so whether BBD remains effective is unclear. Therefore, in this study, we performed a network pharmacological analysis and molecular docking to identify and profile the anti-cancerous mechanisms of this plant on oral cancer. Upon the analysis, we identified fifty-three active compounds acting on 717 predicted targets, 247 of which were associated with oral cancer. The hub genes AKT1, MAPK3, JUN, PIK3CA and IL6 are core components of the PI3K-Akt and MAPK pathways. In molecular docking, the five lead compounds formed stable complexes with these targets, the strongest pairs being morin–MAPK3 (−9.1 kcal/mol) and androstenedione–AKT1 (−8.1 kcal/mol). These results suggest that Babao Dan may act against oral cancer by modulating kinase-dependent signalling at multiple targets, and provide a basis for further experimental validation.

KEYWORDS

Babao Dan; Oral Cancer; Network Pharmacology; Molecular Docking; Traditional Chinese Medicin

CITE THIS PAPER

Cheng Ma, Peter Shaw. Potential Anti-Oral Cancer Activity of Babao Dan: A Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Study. MEDS Chinese Medicine (2026). Vol. 8, No. 2, 32-40. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/medcm.2026.080204.

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