Table 2.

Autophagy-related medications for breast cancer

Drug	Application Status	Target	Tumor or cell Type	Autophagy Activity	Mechanism	Reference
BafA1	Research	Autophagosome	Breast cancer	Inhibition	Enhancing radiation-induced death in breast cancer cells by likely modulating endoplasmic stress and mTOR pathway	[119]
Chloroquine (CQ)	Clinical Application	Autophagosome	Breast cancer	Inhibition	Boosting radiation sensitivity by suppressing TAK1; improving cytotoxicity of chemotherapy in resistant tumors	[119,120]
Ipatasertib	Preclinical & Clinical Trials	PI3K/AKT	Breast cancer	Induction	Induces autophagy in TNBC, enhancing antitumor activity of PI3K/AKT suppressors in combination with CQ	[121]
Taselisib	Preclinical & Clinical Trials	PI3K/AKT	Breast cancer	Induction	Similar to Ipatasertib, inducing autophagy in TNBC, potentiating antitumor effects of chemotherapy with CQ	[121]
Tamoxifen	Clinical Application	ER	Breast cancer	Induction	Induces autophagy in ER+ breast cancer cells, potentially contributing to cell survival and resistance	[122]
Lapatinib	Clinical Application	HER2/EGFR	Breast cancer	Dual Activity	Short-term treatment induces apoptosis via autophagy; long-term treatment leads to protective autophagy	[123]
Trastuzumab	Clinical Application	HER2	Breast cancer	Not Specified	Autophagy plays a significant role in the cytotoxic effects of trastuzumab and T-DM1 on HER2+ breast cancer cells	[124,125]
Artemisinin	Research	Beclin-1, P21	MCF-7, MDA-MB-231	Up-regulation	Inducing autophagy by up-regulating Beclin-1 and P21, leading to increased sensitivity to chemotherapy and apoptosis	[126-129]
Baicalein	Research	PI3K/AKT, mTOR	MCF-7, MDA-MB-231	Activation	Suppressing cell proliferation and triggers apoptosis and Inducing autophagy by modulating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway	[130-133]
Britannin	Research	ATG1, ATG4, ATG5	MCF-7	Inhibition	Inducing apoptosis and inhibits autophagy by down-regulating autophagy markers such as ATG4, ATG5, Beclin1, and LC-III	[134,135]
Celastrol	Research	LC3 A/B, p62	MCF-7	Activation	Exhibits antiproliferative activity and inhibits colony formation by elevating expression of autophagy markers LC3 A/B, p62, and Beclin-1	[137-139]
Cucurbitacin B	Research	LC3 II, p-mTOR	MCF-7	Activation	Decreasing cell viability and inducing DNA damage and autophagy by up-regulating LC3 II and inhibiting p-mTOR, p-Akt, and p62 expressions	[140-142]
Curcumin	Research	PI3K/Akt/mTOR	MCF7, MDA-MB-231	Activation	Sensitizing MDR breast cancer cells to cisplatin and inducing apoptosis and autophagy by down-regulating CCAT1 and inactivating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway	[143-145]
Gaillardin	Research	ATG1, ATG4, ATG5	MCF-7	Inhibition	Inducing apoptosis and inhibiting autophagy by down-regulating autophagy markers such as ATG1, ATG4, ATG5, Beclin1, and LC-III	[136]
Icariin	Research	CDK2, CDK4	MCF-7, MDA-MB-231	Dual Activity	Inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through suppression of autophagy in TAM-resistant cells and enhances autophagy in other contexts	[146-148]
Paclitaxel	Research	Beclin1	BT474	Inhibition	Inhibiting tumor growth by reducing the expression of Beclin1	[149-151]
Resveratrol	Research	AKT, mTORC1	MDA-MB-231, MCF-7	Dual Activity	Sensitizing breast cancer cells to talazoparib and inducing apoptosis by suppressing AKT signaling and inhibiting autophagy flux	[152-154]
Tetrandrine	Research	PI3K/AKT/mTOR	MDA-MB-231, MCF-7	Activation	Blocks cell proliferation and stimulating autophagy and apoptosis by elevating Beclin1, LC3-II/LC3-I and reducing p62/SQSTM1	[155-157]
Thymoquinone	Research	Beclin-1, LC3	MCF-7, MDA-MB-231	Dual Activity	Inhibiting autophagy and cell migration in some contexts, while in others, it increases autophagic vesicles and sensitizes cells to PTX	[158-160]
Tocotrienols	Research	Beclin-1, LC3B	MCF-7, MDA-MB-231	Activation	Decreasing cancer cell viability by increasing markers of both early and late phase autophagy	[161-163]
Ursolic acid	Research	PI3K, AKT	MCF-7, MDA-MB-231	Activation	Inducing cytotoxic autophagy and apoptosis by diminishing AKT signaling and affecting glycolysis	[164-166]