Abstract 4851: Potent cell cycle inhibitors suitable for treatment of multidrug-resistant tumors
Authors: Sivaraja Mohan , Sizikov Sivan , Sirisoma Nilantha , Kirtadze Tamari , Chattopadhyay Madhuri , Ewald Makena , Dash Subhadra , Wong Anne , Neckermann Georg , To Elaine , Chang Stephanie , Shiau Timothy P. , Williams David C. , Short Kevin M. , Estiarte Angels , Datta Anirban , Kita David B. 
Published: August 2018

We have developed a class of small-molecule cytotoxic compounds that are highly potent in an in vitro tubulin polymerization assay. Preclinical studies show that these drug candidates are potent against a range of cancer cell lines and may be well suited for the treatment of hematologic or solid tumors resistant to existing chemotherapy agents. We will present data on representative members of this class that inhibit cancer cell growth at nanomolar concentrations and are potent against a variety of cancer cell lines, including liver, breast, ovarian, and lung. The compounds induce cell cycle arrest in the G2M state within 24 hours with cell death occurring over multiple days. These tubulin inhibitors also behave as potent antiangiogenesis agents and inhibit endothelial tube formation in HUVEC cells at nanomolar concentrations. Functional assays using efflux pump inhibitors show that, compared to many major chemotherapy agents, our class of drug candidates is significantly less affected by the efflux pumps MDR1 and MRP1, which are commonly overexpressed as a mechanism of multidrug resistance. Our compounds show comparable potency against wild-type and cell lines developed to be resistant to other cancer drugs, while the potency of clinically relevant compounds such as paclitaxel or doxorubicin is reduced between 80x and about 3000x in the same assay. This feature suggests that our tubulin inhibitors may be active against tumors that are resistant to common cancer drugs. Overexpression of the β-III isotype of tubulin, which is known to occur in many aggressive and metastatic tumors, is another clinically relevant mechanism of resistance to microtubule-targeting anticancer agents. It has been correlated with significantly lower response to docetaxel-based chemotherapy in a number of cancers and is considered an indicator of resistance to paclitaxel and vinorelbine. We will present preclinical data showing that our compounds have similar activity against cells showing normal levels and those highly overexpressing β-III tubulin. The compounds display good in vitro physicochemical properties as well as favorable in vivo pharmacokinetics. In addition, we will present in vivo tolerability and efficacy data in mice. The ability of this class of tubulin inhibitors to maintain their efficacy across multiple drug-resistant cancer cell lines makes them attractive candidates for development as chemotherapy agents. In particular, a new anticancer agent that is less susceptible to major transporters and retains its potency when β-III tubulin is overexpressed could lead to more effective precision second-line therapy.

Citation Format: Mohan Sivaraja, Sivan Sizikov, Nilantha Sirisoma, Tamari Kirtadze, Madhuri Chattopadhyay, Makena Ewald, Subhadra Dash, Anne Wong, Georg Neckermann, Elaine To, Stephanie Chang, Timothy P. Shiau, David C. Williams, Kevin M. Short, Angels Estiarte, Anirban Datta, David B. Kita. Potent cell cycle inhibitors suitable for treatment of multidrug-resistant tumors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4851.