Abstract 1677: Preclinical activity of Vintafolide/MK-8109 monotherapy and in combination with standard of care therapy in triple-negative breast cancer models
Authors: Haines Brian B. , O'Neil Jennifer , Hinton Marlene C. , Ware Christopher , Yeh Tammie C. , Sun Tianxiao , Picard Kristen L. , Zhang Theresa , Schmidt Emmett V. , Dussault Isabelle 
Published: May 2015

Vintafolide (also known as EC145 or MK-8109), is a small molecule drug conjugate for the treatment of cancers expressing high affinity folate receptor (FR). Vintafolide consists of the anti-mitotic vinca alkaloid desacetylvinblastine monohydrazide (DAVLBH) chemically linked to folic acid. Binding of vintafolide to FR located on the cell surface delivers the chemotherapy payload directly to the tumor cell. Clinical investigations of vintafolide are underway in ovarian and lung cancer, indications with a high prevalence of FR expression.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) may represent an additional indication for vintafolide due to the prevalence of FR expression (∼30%), sensitivity to vinca alkaloids, and unmet medical need. Vintafolide and/or DAVLBH were evaluated in preclinical models of TNBC as monotherapies and in combination with taxanes (paclitaxel or docetaxel). Taxanes represent a commonly used standard of care therapy for TNBC. A panel of TNBC cell lines was generally sensitive to DAVLBH, with IC50s ranging from 4-67 nM. In the majority of cell lines tested, DAVLBH in combination with paclitaxel provided combination benefit and induced more cell death than either single agent.

Vintafolide and DAVLBH were further evaluated in vivo in the FR-high MDA-MB-231 and FR-low CAL51 TNBC xenograft models. Vintafolide was dosed at its MTD of 9.6 mg/kg three times per week (TIW), and at 1.5 mg/kg TIW. DAVLBH was dosed at its MTD of 0.77 mg/kg TIW. Mice were dosed for 3 weeks followed by a 6 week follow-up. Both vintafolide doses resulted in marked MDA-MB-231 tumor regressions of 56-78% at the end of therapy (Day 21) and 75% cures (6 of 8 mice) over the 6 week follow-up period. In the CAL51 model, vintafolide produced 8% and 76% tumor growth inhibition (TGI), respectively, at the 1.5 and 9.6 mg/kg doses, and no cures. DAVLBH was less efficacious compared to vintafolide, giving 96% TGI in the MDA-MB-231 model and 46% TGI in the CAL51 model. In mechanism of action studies in the MDA-MB-231 xenograft model, a dose of vintafolide that gave tumor regressions/cures was associated with increased phospho-histone H3 staining, indicative of a mitotic block of tumor cells, and consistent with the mechanism of action of vinca alkaloids.

In combination therapy experiments in vivo, docetaxel (20 mg/kg weekly) monotherapy achieved near tumor stasis (98% TGI) of MDA-MB-231 tumors over 3 weeks of therapy, but all tumors re-grew upon cessation of treatment. Since vintafolide monotherapy at 1.5 mg/kg TIW gave significant regressions and cures, a combination benefit with docetaxel could not be determined. However, DAVLBH and docetaxel combination therapy delayed tumor re-growth over single agents upon follow-up, suggesting benefit of a vinca alkaloid / taxane combination. Taken together, these preclinical data support further investigation of vintafolide monotherapy and in combination with taxane therapy in TNBC.

Citation Format: Brian B. Haines, Jennifer O'Neil, Marlene C. Hinton, Christopher Ware, Tammie C. Yeh, Tianxiao Sun, Kristen L. Picard, Theresa Zhang, Emmett V. Schmidt, Isabelle Dussault. Preclinical activity of Vintafolide/MK-8109 monotherapy and in combination with standard of care therapy in triple-negative breast cancer models. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1677. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1677