Patent Abstract:
cancers that overexpress tyrosine kinase receptors of her family are treated with drugs acting on these receptors . although her - targeting drugs have revolutionized the treatment of her - positive cancers , high rates of primary and treatment - emergent resistance limit their clinical utility . the present inventors have now discovered that combining her - targeting drugs with a selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 greatly improves the efficacy of such drugs , offering an improved approach to the treatment of her - positive cancers .

Detailed Description:
the invention relates to the treatment of cancers positive for a tyrosine kinase receptor of her family . the invention provides methods and formulations for combining a specific inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 and a drug targeting a tyrosine kinase receptor of her family . in some embodiments the drug targeting the tyrosine kinase receptor of her family is a her2 - or egfr - targeting drug to treat her2 + or egfr + cancers . other her2 - related cancer drug targets of the her family include her3 ( erbb3 ), and her4 ( erbb4 ). in a first aspect , the invention provides a method for treating a subject having a cancer that is positive for a tyrosine kinase receptor of her family . the method comprises administering to the subject an effective amount of a selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 in combination with a drug targeting a tyrosine kinase receptor of her family . in some embodiments , the cancer that is positive for a tyrosine kinase receptor of her family is an estrogen receptor negative ( er −) her2 / neu - positive ( her2 +) cancer . in these embodiments , the method comprises administering to the subject an effective amount of a selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 in combination with a her2 - targeting drug . in some embodiments , the her2 - targeting drug is selected from the group consisting of trastuzumab ( herceptin ®), lapatinib , pertuzumab , and ado - trastuzumab emtansine . these drugs include biosimilars or generics thereof . in some embodiments , the cancer that is positive for a tyrosine kinase receptor of her family is an egfr positive ( egfr +) cancer . in these embodiments , the method comprises administering to the subject an effective amount of a selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 in combination with an egfr - targeting drug . in some embodiments , the egfr targeting drug is selected from the group consisting of erlotinib , gefitinib , afatinib , brigatinib , and cetuximab . these drugs include biosimilars or generics thereof . for purposes of the invention a selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 is a small molecule compound that inhibits one or more of cdk8 and cdk19 to a greater extent than it inhibits certain other cdks . in some embodiments , such compounds further inhibit cdk8 / 19 to a greater extent than cdk9 . in preferred embodiments , such greater extent is at least 2 - fold more than cdk9 . a “ small molecule compound ” is a molecule having a formula weight of about 800 daltons or less . the term “ in combination with ” means that two different agents may be administered in any order , including simultaneous administration , as well as temporally spaced order from a few seconds up to several days apart . some selective inhibitors of cdk8 / 19 useful in the methods according to the invention have been described in us patent publication number 20140038958 . in some embodiments , the selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 has the structural formula i or ii : provided that at least one b is hydrogen and not more than one b is hydrogen ; d is selected from — nh , — n - lower alkyl , or o ; and n is 0 - 2 . in some embodiments lower alkyl is methyl . in some embodiments n is 0 or 1 . in some embodiments the selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 is selected from the group consisting of snx2 - 1 - 162 , snx2 - 1 - 163 , snx2 - 1 - 164 , snx2 - 1 - 165 , snx2 - 1 - 166 and snx2 - 1 - 167 . in some embodiments , the selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 is snx2 - 1 - 165 . in some embodiments , the selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 is selected from the compounds shown in fig1 . the active compounds are included separately or together in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent in an amount sufficient to deliver to a patient a therapeutically effective amount without causing serious toxic effects in the patient treated . a “ therapeutically effective amount ” is an amount sufficient to alleviate or eliminate signs or symptoms of the disease . the effective dosage range of the pharmaceutically acceptable derivatives can be calculated based on the weight of the parent compound to be delivered . if the derivative exhibits activity in itself , the effective dosage can be estimated as above using the weight of the derivative , or by other means known to those skilled in the art . in certain applications , an effective dose range for a 70 kg patient is from about 50 mg per patient per day up to about 10 grams per patient per day , or the maximum tolerated dose . in certain preferred embodiments the dose range is from about 200 mg per patient per day to about 10 g per patient per day . in certain preferred embodiments the dose range is from about 200 mg per patient per day to about 5 g per patient per day . the dose in each patient may be adjusted depending on the clinical response to the administration of a particular drug . administration of the pharmaceutical formulations in the methods according to the invention may be by any medically accepted route , including , without limitation , parenteral , oral , sublingual , transdermal , topical , intranasal , intratracheal , or intrarectal . in certain preferred embodiments , compositions of the invention are administered parenterally , e . g ., intravenously in a hospital setting . in certain other preferred embodiments , administration may preferably be by the oral route . in a second aspect , the invention provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 , a drug targeting a tyrosine kinase receptor of her family , and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier . in some embodiments , the drug targeting a tyrosine kinase receptor of her family is a her2 - targeting drug . in some embodiments , the her2 - targeting drug is selected from the group consisting of trastuzumab ( herceptin ®), lapatinib , pertuzumab , and ado - trastuzumab emtansine . these drugs include biosimilars or generics thereof . in some embodiments , the drug targeting a tyrosine kinase receptor of her family is an egfr - targeting drug . in some embodiments , the egfr targeting drug is selected from the group consisting of erlotinib , gefitinib , afatinib , brigatinib , and cetuximab . these drugs include biosimilars or generics thereof . in some embodiments , the selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 has the structural formula i or ii : provided that at least one b is hydrogen and not more than one b is hydrogen ; d is selected from — nh , — n - lower alkyl , or o ; and n is 0 - 2 . in some embodiments lower alkyl is methyl . in some embodiments n is 0 or 1 . in some embodiments the selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 is selected from the group consisting of snx2 - 1 - 162 , snx2 - 1 - 163 , snx2 - 1 - 164 , snx2 - 1 - 165 , snx2 - 1 - 166 and snx2 - 1 - 167 . in some embodiments , the selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 is snx2 - 1 - 165 . in some embodiments , the selective inhibitor of cdk8 / 19 is selected from the compounds shown in fig1 . such compositions comprise the compounds , which may be in the form of a free acid , salt or prodrug , in a pharmaceutically acceptable diluent ( including , without limitation , water ), carrier , or excipient . such compositions are well known in the art and are described , e . g ., in remington &# 39 ; s pharmaceutical sciences , 18th edition , ed . a . gennaro , mack publishing co ., easton , pa ., 1990 . the characteristics of the carrier will depend on the route of administration . as used herein , the term “ pharmaceutically acceptable ” means a non - toxic material that is compatible with a biological system such as a cell , cell culture , tissue , or organism , and that does not interfere with the effectiveness of the biological activity of the active ingredient ( s ). thus , compositions according to the invention may contain , in addition to the inhibitor , diluents , fillers , salts , buffers , stabilizers , solubilizers , and other materials well known in the art . as used herein , the term “ pharmaceutically acceptable salts ” refers to salts that retain the desired biological activity of the above - identified compounds and exhibit minimal or no undesired toxicological effects . examples of such salts include , but are not limited to , salts formed with inorganic acids ( for example , hydrochloric acid , hydrobromic acid , sulfuric acid , phosphoric acid , nitric acid , and the like ), and salts formed with organic acids such as acetic acid , oxalic acid , tartaric acid , succinic acid , malic acid , ascorbic acid , benzoic acid , tannic acid , palmoic acid , alginic acid , polyglutamic acid , naphthalenesulfonic acid , naphthalenedisulfonic acid , methanesulfonic acid , p - toluenesulfonic acid and polygalacturonic acid . the compounds can also be administered as pharmaceutically acceptable quaternary salts known by those skilled in the art , which specifically include the quaternary ammonium salt of the formula — nr + z —, wherein r is hydrogen , alkyl , or benzyl , and z is a counterion , including chloride , bromide , iodide , — o - alkyl , toluenesulfonate , methylsulfonate , sulfonate , phosphate , or carboxylate ( such as benzoate , succinate , acetate , glycolate , maleate , malate , citrate , tartrate , ascorbate , benzoate , cinnamoate , mandeloate , benzyloate , and diphenylacetate ). the following examples are intended to further illustrate certain preferred embodiments of the invention as are not intended to limit the scope of the invention . cdk8 / 19 inhibition has a synergistic effect with her2 / neu inhibition in er + her2 + and er - her2 + breast cancers fig1 presents an analysis of the nature of the interaction between cdk8 / 19 inhibitor senexin b ( a . k . a . snx2 - 1 - 165 ) developed and owned by senex biotechnology , inc .) and a her2 - specific monoclonal antibody ( a biosimilar of trastuzumab from biocad , strelna , russia ) in bt474 , a er + her2 + breast cancer cell line . in these experiments , 2000 cells / well were plated in each well of 96 well plates . after 24 hours , cells were treated with the indicated concentrations of senexin b ( snxb ) or a trastuzumab biosimilar ( her ), alone or at a constant fixed ratio of 100 nm snxb : 1 μg / ml her . treatment was repeated after 3 days , and the mtt assay for relative cell number was performed after the total of 7 days of treatment . the combination index ( ci ) values were calculated using compusyn ® ( www . combosyn . com ), a web tool based on the principles described in chou ( 2006 ). this analysis showed very strong synergy between snxb and her in these cells . in the first experiment , the ic50 ci was infinitely low and the ic75 ci was 0 . 019 , and in the second experiment the ic50 ci was 0 . 089 ( fig1 ). similar analysis was conducted for the interaction between senexin b and lapatinib ( lap ), a small - molecule inhibitor of both her2 and egfr , in the same cells ; using a snxb : lap molar ratio of 10 : 1 . in this case , the ci values indicated strong synergy between the two compounds in the first experiment ( ic50 ci = 0 . 512 ) and moderate synergy in the second experiment ( ic50 ci = 0 . 728 ) ( fig2 ). the same analysis was then conducted using an er - her2 + cell line skbr3 ( cells were plated at 1 , 500 cells per well ). surprisingly , despite the lack of er in this cell line , senexin b showed strong to very strong synergy with her in three experiments ( ic50 ci values were 0 . 107 , 0 . 013 and 0 . 246 ) ( fig3 ). senexin b also showed a synergy with lapatinib in skbr3 cells ( ic50 ci values were 0 . 611 , 0 . 674 and 0 . 470 in three experiments ) ( fig4 ). these results suggest that combining a cdk8 / 19 inhibitor with her2 - targeting drugs is beneficial for the treatment of both er + her2 + and er - her2 + breast cancers . cdk8 / 19 inhibition has a synergistic effect with her2 / neu inhibition in her2 + breast cancers that are resistant to her2 - targeting drugs the same analysis as above was conducted in er - her2 + breast cancer cell line hcc - 1419 which , despite high levels of her2 , is intrinsically resistant to trastuzumab but sensitive to lapatinib ; this pattern of resistance has been associated with activated phosphoinositide 3 - kinase / akt signaling ( o &# 39 ; brien et al ., 2010 ). we also analyzed er - her2 + breast cancer cell line jimt - 1 , which is intrinsically resistant to both trastuzumab and lapatinib . as shown in fig5 ( for hcc - 1419 , plated at 3000 cells per well ) and fig6 ( for jimt - 1 , plated at 1500 cells per well ), these cells are indeed resistant to the trastuzumab biosimilar ( trast ) and in the case of jimt - 1 cells resistant to lapatinib ( lap ), but the addition of senexin b to trastuzumab or lapatinib synergistically inhibits their growth . for hcc - 1419 , the ci values were 0 . 45 for trastuzumab and 0 . 64 for lapatinib ( fig5 ). for jimt - 1 , ic50 ci values were 0 . 04 for trastuzumab and 0 . 39 for lapatinib ( fig6 ). these results demonstrate that cdk8 / 19 inhibition overcomes innate resistance to her2 - targeted drugs . to determine if cdk8 / 19 inhibition has an effect on acquired resistance to her2 - targeted drugs , we selected skbr3 er - her2 + breast cancer cells for lapatinib resistance , through 4 - month continuous exposure to 250 nm lapatinib . the parental skbr3 cells and the lapatinib - selected skbr3 - lt cells were then tested for resistance to her2 - targeted drugs , senexin b , and their combinations , by plating at 1 , 500 cells per well in 96 - well plates and then treating with senexin b ( 0 - 10 μm ), lapatinib ( 0 - 1000 nm ), trastuzumab biosimilar ( 0 - 100 μg / ml ) or combinations of senexin b and lapatinib or senexin b and trastuzumab biosimilar at a fixed ratio for 7 days . as shown in fig7 , skbr3 - lt cells were less sensitive to both lapatinib and trastuzumab relative to skbr3 , but their sensitivity to senexin b alone or to senexin b combinations with lapatinib or trastuzumab was essentially unchanged , indicating that cdk8 / 19 inhibition overcomes the acquired resistance to her2 - targeted drugs . the above results demonstrate that combining cdk8 / 19 inhibitors with her2 - targeted drugs is beneficial for those patients whose her2 + tumors are resistant to her2 - targeted drugs . cdk8 / 19 inhibition has a synergistic effect with her2 / neu inhibition in her2 + colon cancers the importance of her2 as a drug target is not limited to breast cancer , as her2 gene amplification is also observed in 6 - 10 % of colon cancers at diagnosis ( lee et al ., 2014 ; seo et al ., 2014 ). a much greater number of colon cancers show immunohistochemistry - based her2 overexpression . in contrast to breast cancers , her2 in crc is usually cytoplasmic , and only ˜ 5 % of colon cancers overexpress her2 on the cell surface , making her2 in such cells accessible to cell - permeable small - molecule her2 inhibitors ( such as lapatinib ) but not to anti - her2 antibodies , such as trastuzumab ( blok et al ., 2013 ). to determine if cdk8 / 19 inhibition affects the response of her2 + colon cancer cells to lapatinib , we conducted the same type of analysis as above on two her2 + colon cancer cell lines , hct - 116 and ht - 29 ( both plated at 1500 cells per well ). as shown in fig8 , both of these cell lines showed only a weak response to senexin b or lapatinib alone but a significant response to the combination of senexin b and lapatinib ( ci = 0 . 647 for hct - 116 and 0 . 314 for ht - 29 ). hence , the combination of cdk8 / 19 - and her2 - targeting drugs is beneficial not only to breast cancers but also to other her2 + cancers , such as colon cancer . cdk8 / 19 inhibition prevents the emergence of resistance to her2 - and egfr - targeting drugs a major problem for chemotherapy in general and for molecularly targeted drugs in particular is the development of drug resistance . the ability to prevent the development of drug resistance could allow sustained response to targeted drugs and transform the outcome of cancer therapy . since cdk8 is a key mediator of transcriptional reprogramming ( galbraith et al ., 2010 , 2013 ), we hypothesized that cdk8 inhibition may prevent the induction of transcription that may be associated with epigenetic acquisition of drug resistance . to test this hypothesis , we plated bt474 ( er + her2 +) and skbr3 ( er - her2 +) breast cancer cell lines at 250 , 000 cells per t25 flask , and the cells were continuously exposed to 2 . 5 μm senexin b , 250 nm lapatinib , alone and in combination , for a period of 16 weeks , changing drug - containing media twice a week . at selected time points , cells in flasks were fixed with methanol : acetic acid and stained with crystal violet . the results for bt474 are shown in fig9 and for skbr3 in fig1 . after 1 week of treatment , lapatinib was extremely effective as a single agent at inhibiting the growth of both cell lines , whereas senexin b as a single agent had a limited effect . however , by week 4 ( in the case of bt474 ) or week 8 ( in the case of skbr3 ), the outgrowth of cells treated with lapatinib alone became noticeable compared to cells treated with lapatinib + senexin b combination . after 16 weeks , both cell lines treated continuously with lapatinib were actively proliferating despite the continued presence of lapatinib , however cells cultured in a combination of lapatinib and senexin b did not grow ( fig9 ). hence , the addition of senexin b prevented the emergence of lapatinib resistance in both er + and er − her2 - positive cell lines . we conducted a similar experiment with bt474 breast cancer cells continuously treated with erlotinib , an inhibitor of egfr , another member of the same her family as her2 / neu . 600 , 000 cells per t75 flask were plated in the continuous presence of 10 mm erlotinib , 1 mm senexin b , or a combination of both ( changing drug - containing media twice a week ). while erlotinib alone initially inhibited cell growth , erlotinib - resistant colonies emerged after 35 days of treatment with erlotinib alone but not with an erlotinib - senexin b combination . the macroscopic and microscopic views of the corresponding samples after 35 days of treatment are shown in fig1 and fig1 , respectively . hence , the addition of senexin b prevented the emergence of resistance to egfr inhibitor erlotinib . the above results demonstrate that cdk8 / 19 inhibition prevents the development of resistance to drugs targeting different members of the her tyrosine kinase receptor family , her2 / neu and egfr . this effect indicates the advisability of combining drugs targeting receptors of this family with cdk8 / 19 inhibitors . blok , e . j ., kuppen , p . j ., van leeuwen , j . e ., & amp ; 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