Studies on the treatment of malignant tumors with fibroblast-inhibiting agent IV. Effects of chloroquine on malignant lymphomas

Eleven cases of malignant lymphomas were treated with a fibroblast-inhibiting agent, chloroquine, and of these, one case of lymphosarcoma, two of acute and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, respectively, and two of giant follicle lymphoma showed regression of the enlarged lymph nodes and also of the enlarged spleen in some of the splenomegalic patients. In contrast, the drug proved ineffective in two cases of reticulum cell sarcoma and Hodgkin's disease, respectively. The side effects of the drug were minimal, and three of the 11 cases complained of nausea, anorexia or palpebral ptosis, which disappeared by decreasing the drug dosage or combining ATP preparation. The tissue culture study of biopsied lymph nodes from lymphocytic leukemia showed inhibition of the growth zone in a medium containing chloroquine indicating a possibility of the drug action not only upon the stromal tissue but also upon the parenchymal tumor cell.