Safety and Antitumor Activity of Repeated ASP3026 Administration in Japanese Patients with Solid Tumors: A Phase I Study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene rearrangements (ALKr) resulting in EML4-ALK proteins occur in a subset of solid tumors and are targeted by ALK inhibitors. Given the development of drug resistance to ALK inhibitors, ALK inhibitors with different kinase selectivity are required. METHODS: This phase I, non-randomized, open-label study evaluated the dose-limiting toxicity (DLT), safety, pharmacokinetics, and antitumor activity of ASP3026, a second-generation ALK inhibitor, in Japanese patients with solid tumors. Between 1 June 2011 and 20 January 2014, 29 patients received different daily doses of ASP3026 in the escalation (25 mg, n = 3; 50 mg, n = 3; 75 mg, n = 3; 125 mg, n = 4; 200 mg, n = 3; or 325 mg, n = 7) and expansion (200 mg, n = 6) cohorts. RESULTS: Three patients had DLTs at the 325-mg dose: cataract exacerbation, increased aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase, and impaired hepatic function (all Grade 3 severity). Thus, the maximum tolerated dose was 200 mg. The treatment-emergent adverse event incidence was 100%; the most common events were nausea (n = 8, 27.6%), decreased appetite (n = 10, 34.5%), and fatigue (n = 9, 31.0%) of mild or moderate severity. Six patients were positive for ALK protein and three had ALKr. Two patients achieved partial responses: one with Ewing sarcoma (75-mg dose group) and one with an ALKr-positive inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (125-mg dose group). CONCLUSION: ASP3026 at a 200-mg dose may provide therapeutic benefit for patients with solid tumors, with a tolerable safety profile. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under the identifier NCT01401504 on July 25, 2011.

Phase I safety and pharmacokinetic study of YM155, a potent selective survivin inhibitor, in combination with erlotinib in patients with EGFR TKI refractory advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

PURPOSE: This phase I study was conducted to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of YM155, a potent, selective survivin inhibitor, in combination with erlotinib in patients with EGFR TKI refractory advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: The pimary objectives were to evaluate the safety and tolerability of YM155 at escalating doses (3.6, 4.8, 6.0, and 8.0 mg/m2/days) administered every 3 weeks as continuous intravenous infusion over 168 h in combination with erlotinib at a fixed dose (150 mg, once a day). Secondary objectives were to assess the pharmacokinetics of YM155, antitumor activity, and the relationship between biomarkers and efficacy. The changes in survivin expression in biopsied tumor pre- and post-YM155 administration and serum cytokine levels were also analyzed. RESULTS: Fifteen patients were treated. The most common YM155-related adverse event was the presence of urine microalbumin, whereas grades 3/4 toxicities were rare. One patient who received 4.8  mg/m2/days YM155 developed a dose-limiting grade 2 serum creatinine elevation. YM155 exposure in plasma showed dose proportionality across all dose ranges tested. No pharmacokinetic interaction occurred between YM155 and erlotinib. The serum cytokines IL-8, G-CSF, and MIP-1b showed decreasing trends in patients who achieved progression-free survival of ≥ 12 weeks. Durable stable disease for ≥ 24 weeks was observed in two patients. CONCLUSION: Up to 8.0 mg/m2/days YM155 administered every 3 weeks in combination with erlotinib exhibited a favorable safety profile and moderate clinical efficacy. These results suggest that inhibiting survivin is a potential therapeutic strategy for select patients with EGFR TKI refractory NSCLC. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN000031912 at UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR).

Phylogenetic analysis of the spider mite sub-family Tetranychinae (Acari: Tetranychidae) based on the mitochondrial COI gene and the 18S and the 5' end of the 28S rRNA genes indicates that several genera are polyphyletic.

The spider mite sub-family Tetranychinae includes many agricultural pests. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal RNA genes and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene of mitochondrial DNA have been used for species identification and phylogenetic reconstruction within the sub-family Tetranychinae, although they have not always been successful. The 18S and 28S rRNA genes should be more suitable for resolving higher levels of phylogeny, such as tribes or genera of Tetranychinae because these genes evolve more slowly and are made up of conserved regions and divergent domains. Therefore, we used both the 18S (1,825-1,901 bp) and 28S (the 5' end of 646-743 bp) rRNA genes to infer phylogenetic relationships within the sub-family Tetranychinae with a focus on the tribe Tetranychini. Then, we compared the phylogenetic tree of the 18S and 28S genes with that of the mitochondrial COI gene (618 bp). As observed in previous studies, our phylogeny based on the COI gene was not resolved because of the low bootstrap values for most nodes of the tree. On the other hand, our phylogenetic tree of the 18S and 28S genes revealed several well-supported clades within the sub-family Tetranychinae. The 18S and 28S phylogenetic trees suggest that the tribes Bryobiini, Petrobiini and Eurytetranychini are monophyletic and that the tribe Tetranychini is polyphyletic. At the genus level, six genera for which more than two species were sampled appear to be monophyletic, while four genera (Oligonychus, Tetranychus, Schizotetranychus and Eotetranychus) appear to be polyphyletic. The topology presented here does not fully agree with the current morphology-based taxonomy, so that the diagnostic morphological characters of Tetranychinae need to be reconsidered.

Oxidative decarboxylative synthesis of 2-H-imidazolines from glyoxylic acid and 1,2-diamines.

A novel method to prepare 2-H-imidazolines from glyoxylic acid monohydrate and 1,2-diamines is described; the key reaction of this method is the oxidative decarboxylation of the 2-carboxy imidazolidines by NBS.

Concise total synthesis of (-)-spongotine A.

The first asymmetric total synthesis of spongotine A is described. The oxidative synthesis of the imidazoline/ketone unit from keto aldehyde and diamine is a key step in this synthesis. The absolute stereochemistry of the asymmetric center of natural spongotine A is revealed as the (S)-configuration.

Facile and efficient synthesis of lactols by a domino reaction of 2,3-epoxy alcohols with a hypervalent iodine(III) reagent and its application to the synthesis of lactones and the asymmetric synthesis of (+)-tanikolide.

The domino reaction of 2,3-epoxy-1-alcohol derivatives, namely tetrasubstituted 2,3-epoxy-1-alcohols and 2- or 3-alkyl trisubstituted 2,3-epoxy-1-alcohols, with PhI(OCOCF(3))(2) in the presence of H(2)O is described in detail. In this reaction, several types of lactol derivatives can be directly obtained from the 2,3-epoxy-1-alcohol derivatives in a single operation. The obtained lactols were successively converted into the corresponding lactones. This reaction is applicable to the construction of optically active lactone compounds. The asymmetric total synthesis of (+)-tanikolide, an antifungal marine natural product, has been effectively achieved by using this reaction.