Metastasis of B16F10 mouse melanoma inhibited by lovastatin, an inhibitor of cholesterol biosynthesis.

Lovastatin (LST) is an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, a rate-limiting enzyme that regulates the biosynthesis of cholesterol. This drug is used clinically to treat patients with hypercholesterolemia. Numerous studies have also suggested an important, if not essential, role of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway to cell growth and proliferation. In fact, recent studies demonstrating the inhibitory effects of LST on various tumor cells have drawn much attention. We now describe a novel action of LST that inhibited experimental lung metastasis of the highly metastatic B16F10 mouse melanoma in nude mice. Further, when used in in vitro studies, LST pretreatment of B16F10 cells resulted in inhibition of attachment, motility, and invasion, which are key steps in the dynamic sequence of events that comprise the metastatic cascade. Our studies also suggested that the antimetastatic effect of LST on B16F10 cells is probably not mediated by a growth inhibitory action. We submit that these observations identify an antimetastatic agent with potentially useful clinical application.