Recent Advances in Age-Related Macular Degeneration Therapies.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was described for the first time in the 1840s and is currently the leading cause of blindness for patients over 65 years in Western Countries. This disease impacts the eye's posterior segment and damages the macula, a retina section with high levels of photoreceptor cells and responsible for the central vision. Advanced AMD stages are divided into the atrophic (dry) form and the exudative (wet) form. Atrophic AMD consists in the progressive atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and the outer retinal layers, while the exudative form results in the anarchic invasion by choroidal neo-vessels of RPE and the retina. This invasion is responsible for fluid accumulation in the intra/sub-retinal spaces and for a progressive dysfunction of the photoreceptor cells. To date, the few existing anti-AMD therapies may only delay or suspend its progression, without providing cure to patients. However, in the last decade, an outstanding number of research programs targeting its different aspects have been initiated by academics and industrials. This review aims to bring together the most recent advances and insights into the mechanisms underlying AMD pathogenicity and disease evolution, and to highlight the current hypotheses towards the development of new treatments, i.e., symptomatic vs. curative. The therapeutic options and drugs proposed to tackle these mechanisms are analyzed and critically compared. A particular emphasis has been given to the therapeutic agents currently tested in clinical trials, whose results have been carefully collected and discussed whenever possible.

New CXCR1/CXCR2 inhibitors represent an effective treatment for kidney or head and neck cancers sensitive or refractory to reference treatments.

Clear cell Renal Cell (RCC) and Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas (HNSCC) are characterized by a pro-angiogenic/pro-inflammatory context. Despite conventional or targeted therapies, metastatic RCC and HNSCC remain incurable. Alternative treatments to reference therapies (sunitinib, a multi tyrosine kinase inhibitor for RCC or cisplatin for HNSCC) are urgently needed on relapse. Here, we described the relevance of targeting the ELR+CXCL cytokines receptors, CXCR1/2, for the treatment of these two cancer types. Methods: The relevance to patient treatment was evaluated by correlating the ELR+CXCL/CXCR1/2 levels to survival using online available data. We report herein the synthesis of new pharmacological inhibitors of CXCR1/2 with anti-proliferation/survival activity. The latter was evaluated with the XTT assay with leukemic, breast, RCC and HNSCC cell lines. Their relevance as an alternative treatment was tested on sunitinib- and cisplatin- resistant cells. The most efficient compound was then tested in a mouse model of RCC and HNSCC. Results: RCC and HNSCC expressed the highest amounts of CXCR1/2 of all cancers. High levels of ELR+CXCL cytokines (CXCL1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8) correlated to shorter survival. Among the 33 synthesized and tested molecules, compound C29 reduced ELR+CXCL/CXCR1/2-dependent proliferation and migration of endothelial cells. C29 exerted an anti-proliferation/survival activity on a panel of cancer cells including naive and resistant RCC and HNSCC cells. C29 reduced the growth of experimental RCC and HNSCC tumors by decreasing tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis and ELR+/CXCL-mediated inflammation. Conclusion: Our study highlights the relevance of new CXCR1/2 inhibitors for the treatment of RCC or HNSCC as first-line treatment or at relapse on reference therapies.