Table 2.

Antitumor mechanism of antiparasitic drugs.

Category	Drug	Drug action	Effect
Macrolides	Avermectins	Apoptosis	Inhibit Cl-Channel, Mitochondrial related pathways
		Cell cycle	Cycle-related protein, KPNB1-dependent
		Autophagy	Ubiquitination pathway, PAK1↓, Inactivate AKT-mTOR
		Cell stemness	Inhibit stemness genes, Inactivate PAK1, pStat3↓, IL-6↓
	Milbemycins	Drug resistance	MDR1↓, P-gp↓, MAST1↓
Benzimidazoles	Albendazole	Energy homeostasis	Inhibition GLUT1/AMPK/P53, HIF-1α↓
		Cell cycle	Inhibit microtubule formation
		Apoptosis	ER stress, pMAPK↑, TNF-α↑
	Flubendazole	Cell cycle	Inhibiting tubulin polymerization
		Autophagy	EVA1A↑, LC3 puncta↓, p62 degradation↓, and LC3 lipidation↓, STAT3 related pathways
		Immunity	PD-1↓, accumulation of MDSCs↓
Artemisinin and derivatives	Artemisinin	DNA damage	ROS↑, topoisomerase 1↓
		Cell cycle	Cycle-related protein (cyclin-B1, cyclin D1, cyclin E)
		Immunity	Degranulation of NK cells↑, MDSCs and Treg cells↓, CD4 +IFN-γ+ T and CTL↑
	Artesunate	DNA damage	ROS↑
	Artemisitene	DNA damage	NEDD4↑, the stability of c-Myc↓, DNA topoisomerases↓
	Dihydroartemisinin	Cell cycle	ROS↑, CDK4↓
		Ferroptosis	Iron-related proteins, Binding of iron IRP1 and IRP2↑, unstable iron ions↑
	Artemether	Immunity	Treg↓, IL-4 and IFN-γ↑
Quinolines	Chloroquine	Autophagy	Impeding the degradation of autophagic proteins
		Immunity	tumor-associated carcinoembryonic antigen↑, CD80 and CD86↑
		Drug resistance	p21WAF1/CIP1↑
		Cell stemness	STAT3↓, CXCR4↓
	Atovaquone	Energy homeostasis	Inhibiting mitochondrial complex III, Oxidative phosphorylation↓
		Cell stemness	mitochondrial membrane potential↓, ROS↑, pSTAT3 in mitochondrial↓
		Apoptosis	Degrade HER2 and β-catenin, pATM and p53↑