Metastatic breast cancers are hard to treat and almost always fatal. Chloroquine diphosphate, a derivative of quinine, has long been used as a potent and commonly used medicine against different human diseases. We therefore investigated the effects of chloroquine diphosphate on a highly metastatic mouse mammary carcinoma cell line. In vitro treatment of 4T1 mouse breast cancer cells with chloroquine diphosphate resulted in significant inhibition of cellular proliferation and viability, and induction of apoptosis in 4T1 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Further analysis indicated that induction of apoptosis was associated with the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, release of cytochrome c, and activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. The effect of chloroquine diphosphate was then examined using a mice model in which 4T1 cells were implanted subcutaneously. Chloroquine diphosphate (25mg/kg and 50mg/kg, respectively) significantly inhibited the growth of the implanted 4T1 tumor cells and induced apoptosis in the tumor microenvironment. Moreover, the metastasis of tumor cells to the lungs was inhibited significantly and the survival of the mice enhanced. These data suggested that chloroquine diphosphate might have chemotherapeutic efficacy against breast cancer including inhibition of metastasis.
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