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

• Published in: Biomolecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 10; no. 12; p. 1623
• Main Authors: Duarte, Diana, Vale, Nuno
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.12.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Antimalarial agents; antimalarial drugs; Antimalarials - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - pharmacology; Antineoplastic drugs; Apoptosis; Artesunate; Artesunate - pharmacology; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy; Breast Neoplasms - metabolism; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Cancer therapies; Cell cycle; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Cell Survival - drug effects; Cell viability; Chemotherapy; Chloroquine; Chloroquine - pharmacology; Clinical medicine; combination therapy; Cytotoxicity; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Doxorubicin; Doxorubicin - pharmacology; Drug dosages; drug repurposing; Drug resistance; Drug Synergism; Estrogens; Female; Humans; Malaria; MCF-7 Cells; Mefloquine; Mefloquine - pharmacology; Metabolism; Metabolites; Paclitaxel; Paclitaxel - pharmacology; Parasites; Pharmaceutical industry; breast cancer; combination therapy; drug synergism; antimalarial drugs; drug repurposing; antineoplastic drugs
• ISSN: 2218-273X; 2218-273X
• DOI: 10.3390/biom10121623

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 IC and higher are cell growth inhibitors. Mefloquine, artesunate, and chloroquine at concentrations of their IC demonstrate anti-cancer activity. In combination, almost all antimalarials demonstrate higher ability than DOX and PTX alone to decrease cell viability at concentrations of IC and lower than their IC . 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.