| 1. |
- Berglund, Åke, et al.
(författare)
-
First-in-human, phase I/IIa clinical study of the peptidase potentiated alkylator melflufen administered every three weeks to patients with advanced solid tumor malignancies
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Investigational new drugs. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0167-6997 .- 1573-0646. ; 33:6, s. 1232-1241
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose Melflufen (melphalan flufenamide, previously designated J1) is an optimized and targeted derivative of melphalan, hydrolyzed by aminopeptidases overexpressed in tumor cells resulting in selective release and trapping of melphalan, and enhanced activity in preclinical models. Methods This was a prospective, single-armed, open-label, first-in-human, dose-finding phase I/IIa study in 45 adult patients with advanced and progressive solid tumors without standard treatment options. Most common tumor types were ovarian carcinoma (n = 20) and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC, n = 11). Results In the dose-escalating phase I part of the study, seven patients were treated with increasing fixed doses of melflufen (25-130 mg) Q3W. In the subsequent phase IIa part, 38 patients received in total 115 cycles of therapy at doses of 30-75 mg. No dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) were observed at 25 and 50 mg; at higher doses DLTs were reversible neutropenias and thrombocytopenias, particularly evident in heavily pretreated patients, and the recommended phase II dose (RPTD) was set to 50 mg. Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) evaluation after 3 cycles of therapy (27 patients) showed partial response in one (ovarian cancer), and stable disease in 18 patients. One NSCLC patient received nine cycles of melflufen and progressed after 7 months of therapy. Conclusions In conclusion, melflufen can safely be given to cancer patients, and the toxicity profile was as expected for alkylating agents; RPTD is 50 mg Q3W. Reversible and manageable bone marrow suppression was identified as a DLT. Clinical activity is suggested in ovarian cancer, but modest activity in treatment of refractory NSCLC.
|
|
| 2. |
- Carlier, Charlotte, et al.
(författare)
-
Preclinical activity of melflufen (J1) in ovarian cancer
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Oncotarget. - : Impact Journals, LLC. - 1949-2553. ; 7:37, s. 59322-59335
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ovarian cancer carries a significant mortality. Since symptoms tend to be minimal, the disease is often diagnosed when peritoneal metastases are already present. The standard of care in advanced ovarian cancer consists of platinum-based chemotherapy combined with cytoreductive surgery. Unfortunately, even after optimal cytoreduction and adjuvant chemotherapy, most patients with stage III disease will develop a recurrence. Intraperitoneal administration of chemotherapy is an alternative treatment for patients with localized disease. The pharmacological and physiochemical properties of melflufen, a peptidase potentiated alkylator, raised the hypothesis that this drug could be useful in ovarian cancer and particularily against peritoneal carcinomatosis. In this study the preclinical effects of melflufen were investigated in different ovarian cancer models. Melflufen was active against ovarian cancer cell lines, primary cultures of patient-derived ovarian cancer cells, and inhibited the growth of subcutaneous A2780 ovarian cancer xenografts alone and when combined with gemcitabine or liposomal doxorubicin when administered intravenously. In addition, an intra-and subperitoneal xenograft model showed activity of intraperitoneal administered melflufen for peritoneal carcinomatosis, with minimal side effects and modest systemic exposure. In conclusion, results from this study support further investigations of melflufen for the treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis from ovarian cancer, both for intravenous and intraperitoneal administration.
|
|
| 3. |
- Delforoush, Maryam, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
-
Expression of possible targets for new proteasome inhibitors in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
- 2017
-
Ingår i: European Journal of Haematology. - : Wiley. - 0902-4441 .- 1600-0609. ; 98:1, s. 52-56
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Investigating expression of possible targets for proteasome inhibitors in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and correlating the findings to clinical parameters and outcome.Methods: Tumour material from 92 patients with DLBCL treated with either R-CHOP like (n = 69) or CHOP like (n = 23) regimens were stained for possible targets of proteasome inhibitors.Results: The primary target molecule of bortezomib, proteasome subunit beta, type 5 (PSMB5), was not detected in the tumour cells in any of the cases but showed an abundant expression in cells in the microenvironment. However, the deubiquitinases (DUBs) of the proteasome, the ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L5 (UCHL5) and the ubiquitin specific peptidase 14 (USP14), were detected in the cytoplasm of the tumour cells in 77% and 74% of the cases, respectively. The adhesion regulating molecule 1 (ADRM1) was detected in 98% of the cases. There was no correlation between the expression of any of the studied markers and clinical outcome or GC/non-GC phenotype.Conclusions: We suggest that UCHL5 and/or USP14 should be further evaluated as new targets for proteasome inhibitors in DLBCL. The lack of expression of PSMB5 on the tumour cells might provide an explanation of the relatively poor results of bortezomib in DLBCL.
|
|
| 4. |
- Delforoush, Maryam, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
-
In vitro and in vivo activity of melflufen (J1) in lymphoma
- 2016
-
Ingår i: BMC Cancer. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2407. ; 16
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Melphalan has been used in the treatment of various hematologic malignancies for almost 60 years. Today it is part of standard therapy for multiple myeloma and also as part of myeloablative regimens in association with autologous allogenic stem cell transplantation. Melflufen (melphalan flufenamide ethyl ester, previously called J1) is an optimized derivative of melphalan providing targeted delivery of active metabolites to cells expressing aminopeptidases. The activity of melflufen has compared favorably with that of melphalan in a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments performed preferentially on different solid tumor models and multiple myeloma. Melflufen is currently being evaluated in a clinical phase I/II trial in relapsed or relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.Methods: Cytotoxicity of melflufen was assayed in lymphoma cell lines and in primary tumor cells with the Fluorometric Microculture Cytotoxicity Assay and cell cycle analyses was performed in two of the cell lines. Melflufen was also investigated in a xenograft model with subcutaneous lymphoma cells inoculated in mice.Results: Melflufen showed activity with cytotoxic IC50-values in the submicromolar range (0.011-0.92 μM) in the cell lines, corresponding to a mean of 49-fold superiority (p < 0.001) in potency vs. melphalan. In the primary cultures melflufen yielded slightly lower IC50-values (2.7 nM to 0.55 μM) and an increased ratio vs. melphalan (range 13–455, average 108, p < 0.001). Treated cell lines exhibited a clear accumulation in the G2/M-phase of the cell cycle. Melflufen also showed significant activity and no, or minimal side effects in the xenografted animals.Conclusion: This study confirms previous reports of a targeting related potency superiority of melflufen compared to that of melphalan. Melflufen was active in cell lines and primary cultures of lymphoma cells, as well as in a xenograft model in mice and appears to be a candidate for further evaluation in the treatment of this group of malignant diseases.
|
|
| 5. |
- Eriksson, Anna, et al.
(författare)
-
Drug screen in patient cells suggests quinacrine to be repositioned for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Blood Cancer Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2044-5385. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To find drugs suitable for repositioning for use against leukemia, samples from patients with chronic lymphocytic, acute myeloid and lymphocytic leukemias as well as peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were tested in response to 1266 compounds from the LOPAC1280 library (Sigma). Twenty-five compounds were defined as hits with activity in all leukemia subgroups (<50% cell survival compared with control) at 10 mu M drug concentration. Only one of these compounds, quinacrine, showed low activity in normal PBMCs and was therefore selected for further preclinical evaluation. Mining the NCI-60 and the NextBio databases demonstrated leukemia sensitivity and the ability of quinacrine to reverse myeloid leukemia gene expression. Mechanistic exploration was performed using the NextBio bioinformatic software using gene expression analysis of drug exposed acute myeloid leukemia cultures (HL-60) in the database. Analysis of gene enrichment and drug correlations revealed strong connections to ribosomal biogenesis nucleoli and translation initiation. The highest drug-drug correlation was to ellipticine, a known RNA polymerase I inhibitor. These results were validated by additional gene expression analysis performed in-house. Quinacrine induced early inhibition of protein synthesis supporting these predictions. The results suggest that quinacrine have repositioning potential for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia by targeting of ribosomal biogenesis.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Eriksson, Anna, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
-
Towards repositioning of quinacrine for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia - Promising synergies and in vivo effects.
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Leukemia Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0145-2126 .- 1873-5835. ; 63, s. 41-46
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We previously reported that the anti-malarial drug quinacrine has potential to be repositioned for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). As a next step towards clinical use, we assessed the efficacy of quinacrine in an AML-PS mouse model and investigated possible synergistic effects when combining quinacrine with nine other antileukemic compounds in two AML cell lines. Furthermore, we explored the in vivo activity of quinacrine in combination with the widely used AML agent cytarabine. The in vivo use of quinacrine (100mg/kg three times per week for two consecutive weeks) significantly suppressed circulating blast cells at days 30/31 and increased the median survival time (MST). The in vitro drug combination analysis yielded promising synergistic interactions when combining quinacrine with cytarabine, azacitidine and geldanamycin. Finally, combining quinacrine with cytarabine in vivo showed a significant decrease in circulating leukemic blast cells and increased MST compared to the effect of either drug used alone, thus supporting the findings from the in vitro combination experiments. Taken together, the repositioning potential of quinacrine for treatment of AML is reinforced by demonstrating significant in vivo activity and promising synergies when quinacrine is combined with different agents, including cytarabine, the hypomethylating agent azacitidine and HSP-90 inhibitor geldanamycin.
|
|
| 8. |
- Fawzy, Iten M., et al.
(författare)
-
Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of Novel Curcumin Analogs with anticipated anticancer activity
- 2015
-
Ingår i: FUTURE JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. - 2314-7245. ; 1:1, s. 22-31
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: Extensive research conducted within past years revealed that curcumin is a highly pleiotropic molecule that interacts with a diverse range of molecular targets and hence it possess anti-proliferative activities against tumor cells.The great similarities between curcumin analogs and chalcones inspired their testing against tubulin enzyme activity as recent research revealed that chalcones possess cytotoxic activity associated with tubulin inhibition and interference with microtubule formation, which is essential in mitosis and cell replication. Objective: Novel Curcumin analogs were designed, synthesized and tested for their antitumor activities. Also in silico and in vitro studies has been performed to predict the binding affinity of the target compounds and to test their ability to inhibit tubulin assembly and act as microtubule destabilizing agents. Methods: Six novel curcumin analogs were designed & synthesized with 3,5-dibenzylidenepiperidin-4-one core moiety. Results: Compounds showed interaction energy comparable to or within the range of podophyllotoxin itself when docked into the colchicine binding site of tubulin using the podophyllotoxin-tubulin complex (PDB 1SA1). Conclusion: Compounds showed moderate anticancer activity and moderate ability to destabilize microtubules and thus inhibiting tubulin polymerization, as a result; these compounds could be used for further future development to obtain more potent analogs. (C) 2015 Future University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
|
|
| 9. |
- Fawzy, Iten M., et al.
(författare)
-
Newly Designed and Synthesized Curcumin Analogs with in vitro Cytotoxicity and Tubulin Polymerization Activity
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Chemical Biology and Drug Design. - : Wiley. - 1747-0277 .- 1747-0285. ; 86:1, s. 860-870
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Novel curcumin analogs with 4-piperidone ring were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against five different cancer cell lines. 3,5-bis(4-Hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene)-4-oxo-N-phenylpiperidine-1-carbothioamide (XIIe) exhibited considerable cytotoxic activity with IC50 values in 1-2.5m range. In silico and in vitro, studies were also performed to predict the binding affinity of the target compounds to the -chain of tubulin receptor (PDB code 1SA1) and their abilities to affect microtubules polymerization cycle. 3,5-bis(3-Iodo-5-methoxy-4-propoxybenzylidene)-N-acetylpiperidin-4-one (VIIa) was found to exert 93.3% inhibition of tubulin and destabilization of microtubules in vitro compared to vincristine while, 3,5-bis(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzylidene)-N-benzoylpiperidin-4-one (XIIc) showed high potency in a differentway where it exerted 94.8% stabilization of microtubules in vitro compared to positive control paclitaxel.
|
|
| 10. |
- Fryknäs, Mårten, et al.
(författare)
-
Iron chelators target both proliferating and quiescent cancer cells
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2045-2322. ; 6
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Poorly vascularized areas of solid tumors contain quiescent cell populations that are resistant to cell cycle-active cancer drugs. The compound VLX600 was recently identified to target quiescent tumor cells and to inhibit mitochondrial respiration. We here performed gene expression analysis in order to characterize the cellular response to VLX600. The compound-specific signature of VLX600 revealed a striking similarity to signatures generated by compounds known to chelate iron. Validation experiments including addition of ferrous and ferric iron in excess, EXAFS measurements, and structure activity relationship analyses showed that VLX600 chelates iron and supported the hypothesis that the biological effects of this compound is due to iron chelation. Compounds that chelate iron possess anti-cancer activity, an effect largely attributed to inhibition of ribonucleotide reductase in proliferating cells. Here we show that iron chelators decrease mitochondrial energy production, an effect poorly tolerated by metabolically stressed tumor cells. These pleiotropic features make iron chelators an attractive option for the treatment of solid tumors containing heterogeneous populations of proliferating and quiescent cells.
|
|
