New Trends for Antimalarial Drugs: Synergism between Antineoplastics and Antimalarials on Breast Cancer Cells

Biomolecules

Diana Duarte¹  Nuno Vale¹ 

[1] OncoPharma Research Group, Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Rua Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal;

关键词: breast cancer;    drug synergism;    antineoplastic drugs;    drug repurposing;    antimalarial drugs;    combination therapy;   

DOI  :  10.3390/biom10121623

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Chemotherapy plays a key role in breast cancer therapy, but drug resistance and unwanted side effects make the treatment less effective. We propose a new combination model that combines antineoplastic drugs and antimalarials for breast cancer therapy. Cytotoxic effects of two antineoplastic agents alone and in combination with several antimalarials on MCF-7 tumor cell line was evaluated. Different concentrations in a fixed ratio were added to the cultured cells and incubated for 48 h. Cell viability was evaluated using MTT and SRB assays. Synergism was evaluated using the Chou-Talalay method. The results indicate doxorubicin (DOX) and paclitaxel (PTX) alone at concentrations of their IC₅₀ and higher are cell growth inhibitors. Mefloquine, artesunate, and chloroquine at concentrations of their IC₅₀ demonstrate anti-cancer activity. In combination, almost all antimalarials demonstrate higher ability than DOX and PTX alone to decrease cell viability at concentrations of IC₅₀ and lower than their IC₅₀. The combination of chloroquine, artesunate and mefloquine with DOX and PTX was synergic (CI < 1). The combination of DOX and mefloquine after 48 h incubation demonstrated the highest cytotoxicity against MCF-7 cells, and the combination of DOX and artesunate was the most synergic. These results suggest antimalarials could act synergistically with DOX/PTX for breast cancer therapy.

【 授权许可】

Unknown