Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34298623›Full record

ReviewCancers2021

Valproic Acid and Breast Cancer: State of the Art in 2021.

Anna Wawruszak, Marta Halasa, Estera Okon, Wirginia Kukula-Koch, Andrzej Stepulak

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cancers, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
48citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.5field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

48 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Beyond epilepsy: The expanding role of valproic acid in Alzheimer disease therapy - a review.The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics · 2025
    Review
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Epigenetic drugs in cancer therapy.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2025
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Anna WawruszakDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-093 Lublin, Poland.ORCID 0000-0003-2388-4577
Marta HalasaDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-093 Lublin, Poland.
Estera OkonDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-093 Lublin, Poland.
Wirginia Kukula-KochDepartment of Pharmacognosy, Medical University of Lublin, 20-093 Lublin, Poland.
Andrzej StepulakDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-093 Lublin, Poland.ORCID 0000-0002-1872-394X
Medical University of Lublin · PL

Funding

Medical University of Lublin DS440/2020 and DS440/2021-2022The Iwanowska Programme, The Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange PPN/IWA/2018/1/00005 and PPN/IWA/2019/1/00160
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Valproic acid (2-propylpentanoic acid, VPA) is a short-chain fatty acid, a member of the group of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDIs). VPA has been successfully used in the treatment of epilepsy, bipolar disorders, and schizophrenia for over 50 years. Numerous in vitro and in vivo pre-clinical studies suggest that this well-known anticonvulsant drug significantly inhibits cancer cell proliferation by modulating multiple signaling pathways. Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy affecting women worldwide. Despite significant progress in the treatment of BC, serious adverse effects, high toxicity to normal cells, and the occurrence of multi-drug resistance (MDR) still limit the effective therapy of BC patients. Thus, new agents which improve the effectiveness of currently used methods, decrease the emergence of MDR, and increase disease-free survival are highly needed. This review focuses on in vitro and in vivo experimental data on VPA, applied individually or in combination with other anti-cancer agents, in the treatment of different histological subtypes of BC.

Indexed as

breast cancerepigeneticshistone acetylationhistone deacetylase inhibitor (HDI)histone deacetylases (HDACs)targeted therapyvalproic acid (VPA)

Identifiers

PMID34298623
PMCPMC8306563
OpenAlexW3178605472

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.