ArticleCancer letters2016
The autophagy inhibitor chloroquine targets cancer stem cells in triple negative breast cancer by inducing mitochondrial damage and impairing DNA break repair.
Article in Cancer letters, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 82 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
82 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 134 citations in OpenAlex.
- Enhancing radiation sensitivity in malignant brain tumors with chloroquine: a systematic review.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2025Pooled it
- A Phase II Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Chloroquine in Combination With Taxanes in the Treatment of Patients With Advanced or Metastatic Anthracycline-refractory Breast Cancer.Clinical breast cancer · 2021Trial
- Beyond conventional therapies: the evolution of targeted agents and immunotherapies in triple-negative breast cancer.Acta pharmacologica Sinica · 2026Review
- Organelle Localization-Induced Bio-Orthogonal Polymerization (OLIBOP) for Photostable Super-Resolution Live-Cell Imaging.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Article
- Photocaged Chloroquine Derivatives for the Light-Dependent Inhibition of Autophagy in Cancer Stem Cells.ACS chemical biology · 2026Article
- The Combination of Thymoquinone and Chloroquine Dose-Dependently Regulates Autophagy and Potentiates Metastatic Melanoma Cell Death via Autophagy-Dependent and -Independent Mechanisms.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Ethambutol induces optic neuropathy through SDHB-mediated ferroptosis in retinal ganglion cells via Smad4 pathway.Human cell · 2026Article
- The multifaceted roles of mitochondria and their therapeutic transformation: a new perspective on triple-negative breast cancer treatment.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Immune system, inflammatory response, and regulated cell death in breast cancer research (Review).Oncology reports · 2026Review
- The impact of the conjugation manner of targeting agent and tandem cell-penetrating peptide on the efficacy of mitomycin C liposomes in treating triple-negative breast tumors.International journal of pharmaceutics: X · 2025Article
- Review
- Autophagy-Related Proteins in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: From Molecular Insights to Therapeutic Applications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Molecular features of TNBC govern heterogeneity in the response to radiation and autophagy inhibition.Cell death & disease · 2025Article
- Chloroquine as a potential anticancer agent for triple-negative breast cancer: effects on MDA-MB-231 cells.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2025Article
- ALDH1A1 in breast cancer: A prospective target to overcome therapy resistance (Review).Oncology letters · 2025Review
- Review
- Innate immune and endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response pathways protectJournal of biosciences · 2025Article
- Autophagy as a Therapeutic Target in Breast Tumors: The Cancer stem cell perspective.Autophagy reports · 2024Article
- Advances in ovarian tumor stem cells and therapy.Cell biochemistry and biophysics · 2024Review
- Role of Autophagy and AMPK in Cancer Stem Cells: Therapeutic Opportunities and Obstacles in Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), characterized by an abundance of treatment-resistant breast cancer stem cells (CSCs), has a poorer prognosis than other types of breast cancers. Despite its aggressiveness, no effective targeted therapy exists for TNBC. Here, we demonstrate that CQ effectively targets CSCs via autophagy inhibition, mitochondrial structural damage, and impairment of double-stranded DNA break repair. Electron microscopy demonstrates CQ-induced mitochondrial cristae damage, which leads to mitochondrial membrane depolarization with a significant reduction in the activity of cytochrome c oxidase and accumulation of superoxide and double-stranded DNA breaks. CQ effectively diminishes the TNBC cells' ability to metastasize in vitro and in a TNBC xenograft model. When administered in combination with carboplatin, CQ effectively inhibits carboplatin-induced autophagy. This combination treatment significantly diminishes the expression of DNA repair proteins in CSC subpopulations, resulting in tumor growth reduction in carboplatin-resistant BRCA1 wild-type TNBC orthotopic xenografts. As TNBC's high treatment failure rate has been attributed to enrichment of CSCs, CQ, an autophagy inhibitor with anti-CSC effects, may be an effective adjunct to current TNBC chemotherapy regimens with carboplatin.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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 OpenQuestion graph.