Myxoma virus is a novel oncolytic virus with significant antitumor activity against experimental human gliomas.

Myxoma virus, a poxvirus previously considered rabbit specific, can replicate productively in a variety of human tumor cells in culture. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was efficacy or toxicities of this oncolytic virus against experimental models of human malignant gliomas in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo in malignant glioma specimens. In vitro, the majority of glioma cell lines tested (7 of 8, 87.5%) were fully permissive for myxoma virus replication and killed by infection. In vivo, intracerebral (i.c.) myxoma virus inoculation was well tolerated and produced only minimal focal inflammatory changes at the site of viral inoculation. U87 and U251 orthotopic xenograft models were used to assess myxoma virus efficacy in vivo. A single intratumoral injection of myxoma virus dramatically prolonged median survival compared with treatment with UV-inactivated myxoma virus. Median survival was not reached in myxoma virus-treated groups versus 47.3 days (U87; P = 0.0002) and 50.7 days (U251; P = 0.0027) in UV-inactivated myxoma virus-treated groups. Most myxoma virus-treated animals (12 of 13, 92%) were alive and apparently "cured" when the experiment was finished (>130 days). Interestingly, we found a selective and long-lived myxoma virus infection in gliomas in vivo. This is the first demonstration of the oncolytic activity of myxoma virus in vivo. The nonpathogenic nature of myxoma virus outside of the rabbit host, its capacity to be genetically modified, its ability to produce a long-lived infection in human tumor cells, and the lack of preexisting antibodies in the human population suggest that myxoma virus may be an attractive oncolytic agent against human malignant glioma.

Reovirus prolongs survival and reduces the frequency of spinal and leptomeningeal metastases from medulloblastoma.

Medulloblastoma (MB), the most common pediatric brain tumor, is a highly malignant disease with a 5-year survival rate of only 60%. Tumor cells invade surrounding tissue and disseminate through cerebral spinal fluid, making treatment difficult. Human reovirus type 3 exploits an activated Ras pathway in tumor cells to support productive infection as an oncolytic virus. Here, we examined the ability of human reovirus to kill MB cells lines and surgical specimens in vitro and inhibit tumor growth/metastases in vivo. Most human MB cell lines tested (five of seven = 71.4%), two MB cell lines derived from spontaneously arising tumors in Patched-1(+/-) mice (two of two = 100%) and three MB primary cultures derived from surgical specimens, were susceptible to reovirus infection. Reovirus was internalized and transcribed in both susceptible and resistant cell lines. However, viral protein synthesis was restricted to cell lines with higher levels of activated Ras, suggesting that Ras plays a critical role in reovirus oncolysis in MB. Using an in vivo Daoy orthotopic animal model, we found that a single i.t. injection of reovirus dramatically prolonged survival compared with controls (160 versus 70 days, respectively; P = 0.0003). Repeating this experiment with GFP-labeled Daoy cells and multiple i.t. administrations of reovirus, we again found prolonged survival and a dramatic reduction in spinal and leptomeningeal metastases (66.7% in control injections versus 0.0% in the live virus group). These data suggest that this oncolytic virus may be a potentially effective novel therapy against human MB. Its ability to reduce metastases to the spinal cord could allow a reduction in the dose/field of total neuroaxis cerebral-spinal radiotherapy currently used to treat/prevent cerebral spinal fluid dissemination.

Altered subcellular localization and low frequency of mutations of ING1 in human brain tumors.

PURPOSE: Clinical and experimental evidence suggest that the p33ING1b candidate tumor suppressor functionally cooperates with p53 in controlling biochemical and biological functions. Because p53 is frequently mutated in brain tumors and the ING1 locus maps to a site of which the loss is associated with gliomas, we analyzed the mutation and expression profiles of ING1B in human brain tumors. Here we present the first report of ING1 expression and mutation analyses in human brain tumor samples and malignant glioma cell lines. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Expression and mutation analyses of ING1B together with subcellular localization studies of ING1 proteins were performed on 29 brain tumor specimens and 6 human glioma cell lines. RESULTS: A single point mutation (3.5%) was detected in the 29 brain tumor specimens analyzed. This missense mutation occurred in a sequence reported previously to confer nuclear translocation properties to p33ING1b. Interestingly, overexpression and subcellular mislocalization of p33ING1b were observed in all 29 of the brain tumor specimens and some glioma cell lines. In tumor samples, ING1 proteins aberrantly localized to the cytoplasm, and to a lesser extent, to the nucleus of glioma cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that although mutations of ING1 seem to be infrequent in human brain tumors, deregulated expression and mislocalization of ING1 proteins, particularly the p33ING1b isoform, are common events in gliomas and glioblastomas.

Efficacy and safety evaluation of human reovirus type 3 in immunocompetent animals: racine and nonhuman primates.

PURPOSE: Human reovirus type 3 has been proposed to kill cancer cells with an activated Ras signaling pathway. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of reovirus in immunocompetent glioma animal models and safety/toxicity in immunocompetent animals, including nonhuman primates. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Racine glioma cells 9L and RG2 were implanted s.c. or intracranially in Fisher 344 rats with or without reovirus antibodies, followed by treatment of reovirus. To study whether reovirus kills contralateral tumors in the brain and to determine viral distribution, we established an in situ dual tumor model followed by reovirus intratumoral inoculation only into the ipsilateral tumor. To evaluate neurotoxicity/safety of reovirus, Cynomolgus monkeys and immunocompetent rats were given intracranially with reovirus, and pathological examination and/or behavioral studies were done. Viral shedding and clinical biochemistry were systematically studied in monkeys. RESULTS: Intratumorally given reovirus significantly suppressed the growth of both s.c. and intracranially tumors and significantly prolonged survival. The presence of reovirus-neutralizing antibodies did not abort the reovirus' antitumor effect. Reovirus inhibited glioma growth intracranially in the ipsilateral but not the contralateral tumors; viral load in ipsilateral tumors was 15 to 330-fold higher than the contralateral tumors. No encephalitis or behavioral abnormalities were found in monkeys and rats given reovirus intracranially. No treatment-related clinical biochemistry changes or diffuse histopathological abnormality were found in monkeys inoculated intracranially with Good Manufacturing Practice prepared reovirus. Microscopic changes were confined to the region of viral inoculation and were dose related, suggesting reovirus intracranially was well tolerated in nonhuman primates. CONCLUSIONS: These data show the efficacy and safety of reovirus when it is used in the treatment of gliomas in immunocompetent hosts. Inoculation of reovirus into the brain of nonhuman primates did not produce significant toxicities.

Enhanced cytotoxicity of PARP inhibition in mantle cell lymphoma harbouring mutations in both ATM and p53.

Poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have shown promise in the treatment of human malignancies characterized by deficiencies in the DNA damage repair proteins BRCA1 and BRCA2 and preclinical studies have demonstrated the potential effectiveness of PARP inhibitors in targeting ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM)-deficient tumours. Here, we show that mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) cells deficient in both ATM and p53 are more sensitive to the PARP inhibitor olaparib than cells lacking ATM function alone. In ATM-deficient MCL cells, olaparib induced DNA-PK-dependent phosphorylation and stabilization of p53 as well as expression of p53-responsive cell cycle checkpoint regulators, and inhibition of DNA-PK reduced the toxicity of olaparib in ATM-deficient MCL cells. Thus, both DNA-PK and p53 regulate the response of ATM-deficient MCL cells to olaparib. In addition, small molecule inhibition of both ATM and PARP was cytotoxic in normal human fibroblasts with disruption of p53, implying that the combination of ATM and PARP inhibitors may have utility in targeting p53-deficient malignancies.

CXCR4 overexpression is associated with poor outcome in females diagnosed with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: It has been proposed that the chemokine receptor, CXCR4, and its ligand, stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), play a critical role in organ-specific tumor metastasis. High CXCR4 expression in resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors is associated with poorer outcome; however, its effect on patient outcome in advanced NSCLC has not been explored. METHODS: After institutional ethical approval was obtained, demographic details, clinical variables, and outcome data were collected on consecutive NSCLC patients diagnosed at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre from 2003 to 2006 (Glans-Look Lung Cancer Database). Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded diagnostic biopsies from stage IV patients were obtained and tissue microarrays generated. CXCR4 expression within NSCLC cells was analyzed by quantitative fluorescent immunohistochemistry using the HistoRx PM-2000 platform and then correlated with clinical outcome. RESULTS: Of 832 patients, 170 had samples suitable for tissue microarray generation and analysis. Automated immunohistochemistry for CXCR4 was successfully completed on all 170 patients. High expressors had a significantly poorer median overall survival of 2.7 months versus 5.6 months for the low expressors (p = 0.0468). This difference is driven by high-expressing females who have a median overall survival of 1.6 months versus 6.4 months for the low expressors (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: CXCR4 is expressed in the majority of NSCLC tumors, and overexpression is associated with significantly poorer survival in stage IV NSCLC patients. Interestingly, this poor outcome is disproportionately represented in the female population. Our results suggest a gender-dependent difference in clinical outcome based on CXCR4 overexpression in stage IV NSCLC.

Susceptibility of mantle cell lymphomas to reovirus oncolysis.

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) an incurable B-cell, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) urgently requires new treatments. We assessed reovirus mediated oncolysis in a panel of human MCL cell lines. In vitro, we found the cytopathic effect of reovirus infection ranged from high to very limited and correlated with levels of Ras activation. In vivo, a single reovirus injection intra-tumorally resulted in complete regression of both the injected and the contra-lateral tumor in a subcutaneous bi-tumor model, in one out of three cell lines tested. Reovirus treatment of MCL seems feasible but will need to be guided by the presence of molecular determinants of reovirus susceptibility.

ATM deficiency sensitizes mantle cell lymphoma cells to poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 inhibitors.

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) inhibition is toxic to cells with mutations in the breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 or BRCA2, a concept termed synthetic lethality. However, whether this approach is applicable to other human cancers with defects in other DNA repair genes has yet to be determined. The ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene is altered in several human cancers including mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Here, we characterize a panel of MCL cell lines for ATM status and function and investigate the potential for synthetic lethality in MCL in the presence of small-molecule inhibitors of PARP-1. We show that Granta-519 and UPN2 cells have low levels of ATM protein, are defective in DNA damage-induced ATM-dependent signaling, are radiation sensitive, and have cell cycle checkpoint defects: all characteristics of defective ATM function. Significantly, Granta-519 and UPN2 cells were more sensitive to PARP-1 inhibition than were the ATM-proficient MCL cell lines examined. Furthermore, the PARP-1 inhibitor olaparib (known previously as AZD2281/KU-0059436) significantly decreased tumor growth and increased overall survival in mice bearing s.c. xenografts of ATM-deficient Granta-519 cells while producing only a modest effect on overall survival of mice bearing xenografts of the ATM-proficient cell line, Z138. Thus, PARP inhibitors have therapeutic potential in the treatment of MCL, and the concept of synthetic lethality extends to human cancers with ATM alterations.