CD44 positive and sorafenib insensitive hepatocellular carcinomas respond to the ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitor INK128.

The mTOR pathway is activated in about 50% of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In an effort to identify new pathways and compounds to treat advanced HCC, we considered the ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitor INK128. ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitors attenuate both mTORC1 and mTORC2. INK128 was evaluated in sorafenib sensitive and insensitive HCC cell lines, CD44low and CD44high HCC and those cell lines with acquired sorafenib resistance. CD44 was significantly increased in Huh7 cells made resistant to sorafenib. Forced expression of CD44 enhanced cellular proliferation and migration, and rendered the cells more sensitive to the anti-proliferative effects of INK128. INK128 suppressed CD44 expression in HCC cells while allosteric mTOR inhibitors did not. CD44 inhibition correlated with 4EBP1 phosphorylation status. INK128 showed better anti-proliferative and anti-migration effects on the mesenchymal-like HCC cells, CD44high HCC cells compared to the allosteric mTOR inhibitor everolimus. Moreover, a combination of INK128 and sorafenib showed improved anti-proliferative effects in CD44high HCC cells. INK128 was efficacious at reducing tumor growth in CD44high SK-Hep1 xenografts in mice when given as monotherapy or in combination with sorafenib. Since the clinical response to sorafenib is highly variable, our findings suggest that ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitors may be effective in treating advanced, CD44-expressing HCC patients who are insensitive to sorafenib.

Phyllanthusmin Derivatives Induce Apoptosis and Reduce Tumor Burden in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer by Late-Stage Autophagy Inhibition.

High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is a lethal gynecological malignancy with a need for new therapeutics. Many of the most widely used chemotherapeutic drugs are derived from natural products or their semi-synthetic derivatives. We have developed potent synthetic analogues of a class of compounds known as phyllanthusmins, inspired by natural products isolated from Phyllanthus poilanei Beille. The most potent analogue, PHY34, had the highest potency in HGSOC cell lines in vitro and displayed cytotoxic activity through activation of apoptosis. PHY34 exerts its cytotoxic effects by inhibiting autophagy at a late stage in the pathway, involving the disruption of lysosomal function. The autophagy activator, rapamycin, combined with PHY34 eliminated apoptosis, suggesting that autophagy inhibition may be required for apoptosis. PHY34 was readily bioavailable through intraperitoneal administration in vivo where it significantly inhibited the growth of cancer cell lines in hollow fibers, as well as reduced tumor burden in a xenograft model. We demonstrate that PHY34 acts as a late-stage autophagy inhibitor with nanomolar potency and significant antitumor efficacy as a single agent against HGSOC in vivo This class of compounds holds promise as a potential, novel chemotherapeutic and demonstrates the effectiveness of targeting the autophagic pathway as a viable strategy for combating ovarian cancer. Mol Cancer Ther; 17(10); 2123-35. ©2018 AACR.

Stability of extemporaneous erlotinib, lapatinib, and imatinib oral suspensions.

PURPOSE: The stability of extemporaneously prepared erlotinib, lapatinib, and imatinib oral liquid dosage forms using two commercially available vehicles when stored at 4 and 25 °C was evaluated. METHODS: Three batches of extemporaneous oral suspensions were prepared for each drug. Erlotinib and lapatinib tablets were crushed and mixed in a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Plus:Ora-Sweet solution to yield 10- and 50-mg/mL suspensions, respectively. Imatinib tablets were crushed and mixed in Ora-Sweet solution to yield a 40-mg/mL suspension. Suspensions were stored in amber plastic bottles, and samples from each bottle were obtained on days 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28. RESULTS: Erlotinib 10-mg/mL and lapatinib 50-mg/mL oral suspensions in a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Plus and Ora-Sweet retained at least 90% of their initial concentration throughout the 28-day study when stored at 25 °C. Visual inspection revealed notable viscosity changes in the erlotinib and lapatinib suspensions stored at 4 °C for 7 days and beyond. The viscosity of these preparations increased with time and was particularly evident with the erlotinib suspension, which exhibited a puddinglike texture. Imatinib 40-mg/mL oral suspension in Ora-Sweet appeared stable for up to 14 days when stored at both 25 and 4 °C. CONCLUSION: Erlotinib 10-mg/mL and lapatinib 50-mg/mL oral suspensions prepared from commercially available tablets were stable for at least 28 days when prepared in a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Plus:Ora-Sweet at 25 °C. Imatinib 40-mg/mL oral suspension prepared from commercially available tablets was stable for up to 14 days when prepared in Ora-Sweet and stored at 25 and 4 °C.

Sensitive liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry methods for quantification of pomalidomide in mouse plasma and brain tissue.

Pomalidomide was recently approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies. As pomalidomide is increasingly evaluated in other diseases and animal disease models, this paper presents development and validation of a sensitive liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry assay for quantification of pomalidomide in mouse plasma and brain tissue to fill a gap in published preclinical pharmacokinetic and analytical data with this agent. After acetonitrile protein precipitation, pomalidomide and internal standard, hesperitin, were separated with reverse phase chromatography on a C-18 column with a gradient mobile phase of water and acetonitrile with 0.1% fomic acid. Positive atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry with selected reaction monitoring mode was applied to achieve 0.3-3000nM (0.082-819.73ng/mL) linear range in mouse plasma and 0.6-6000pmol/g in brain tissue. The within- and between-batch accuracy and precision were less than 15% for both plasma and brain tissue. The method was applied to measure pomalidomide concentrations in plasma and brain tissue in a pilot mouse pharmacokinetic study with an intravenous dose of 0.5mg/kg. This assay can be applied for thorough characterization of pomalidomide pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution in mice.