Abstract 2463: PEGPH20 increases the anticancer activity of standard chemotherapy combinations, vincristine (VIN) and D actinomycin (DACT), in a Wilms’ xenograft model
Authors: Cowell Jessica , Zimmerman Susan J. , Marrela Mathieu , Jiang Ping , Houghton Peter J. , LaBarre Michael J. , Maneval Daniel C. , Thompson Curtis B. , Li Xiaoming 
Published: July 2016

Hyaluronan (HA), which accumulates in the tumor microenvironment of many solid tumors, is associated with tumor progression and negative clinical outcomes. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that PEGPH20-mediated HA removal from HA-rich xenograft tumors in mice decreases tumor interstitial fluid pressure and water content, resulting in decompression of tumor vasculature, increased tumor perfusion and enhanced chemotherapeutic activity. Accordingly, the HA degrading enzyme, pegylated recombinant human hyaluronidase PH20 (PEGPH20), is currently being evaluated in clinical trials with selected treatment regimens in several malignancies, including metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma, gastric cancer, breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. Advances in treatment for pediatric Wilms’ tumor patients have significantly increased survival, but salvage chemotherapy for relapsed pediatric patients remains challenging. To evaluate the role of HA in this disease, 19 Wilms’ tumor histological specimens were surveyed for HA status using a novel probe (Jadin 2014). 79% (15/19) of the samples stained strongly for HA when compared to non-tumor kidney tissue, prompting additional preclinical studies. In brief, a human Wilms’ tumor cell line, WT-CLS1, was transduced with hyaluronan synthase-3 (HAS3). The subsequent WT-CLS1/HAS3 cells produced more HA and WT-CLS1/HAS3 xenograft tumors grew significantly faster than parental WT-CLS1 tumors. To evaluate the efficacy of PEGPH20 in combination with Wilms’ tumor chemotherapy (CTX) combinations, WT-CLS1/HAS3 cells were inoculated adjacent to the tibial periosteum of nude mice and tumor growth was monitored via ultrasonography. When tumors reached ∼250 mm3, mice were staged into treatment groups: vehicle control, PEGPH20, vincristine (VIN) plus Dactinomycin (DACT), and PEGPH20+VIN+DACT at different dose/frequency combinations. Average tumor growth inhibition (TGI) and overall survival for PEGPH20+VIN+DACT-treated mice were superior to TGI and survival of VIN+DACT treatment alone. In separate studies WT-CLS1/HAS3 tumor-bearing mice were staged into three groups: vehicle control, low dose PEGPH20 (0.0375 mg/kg, iv) and high dose PEGPH20 (1 mg/kg, iv). Animals were administered the hypoxyprobe pimonidazole (60 mg/kg, ip) three hours prior to sacrifice, and whole tumors were removed and processed via immunofluorescence. High dose PEGPH20 reduced this measure of tumor hypoxia by 5% (p = 0.023). Taken together, these data demonstrate that HA accumulation in Wilms’ tumor is common, and treatment with PEGPH20 hyaluronidase can increase CTX efficacy and reduce tumor hypoxia in a preclinical model of this disease. These results support further studies with PEGPH20 in combination with chemotherapy in preclinical models of Wilms’ tumor and suggest investigation in this pediatric patient population may be warranted.

Citation Format: Jessica Cowell, Susan J. Zimmerman, Mathieu Marrela, Ping Jiang, Peter J. Houghton, Michael J. LaBarre, Daniel C. Maneval, Curtis B. Thompson, Xiaoming Li. PEGPH20 increases the anticancer activity of standard chemotherapy combinations, vincristine (VIN) and D actinomycin (DACT), in a Wilms’ xenograft model. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2463.