Phase I and pharmacokinetic study of the novel redox-active agent, motexafin gadolinium, with concurrent radiation therapy in patients with locally advanced pancreatic or biliary cancers

Clinical pharmacology and clinical trials of ribonucleotide reductase inhibitors: is it a viable cancer therapy?

PURPOSE

Ribonucleotide reductase (RR) enzymes (RR1 and RR2) play an important role in the reduction of ribonucleotides to deoxyribonucleotides which is involved in DNA replication and repair. Augmented RR activity has been ascribed to uncontrolled cell growth and tumorigenic transformation.

METHODS

This review mainly focuses on several biological and chemical RR inhibitors (e.g., siRNA, GTI-2040, GTI-2501, triapine, gemcitabine, and clofarabine) that have been evaluated in clinical trials with promising anticancer activity from 1960's till 2016. A summary on whether their monotherapy or combination is still effective for further use is discussed.

RESULTS

Among the RR2 inhibitors evaluated, GTI-2040, siRNA, gallium nitrate and didox were more efficacious as a monotherapy, whereas triapine was found to be more efficacious as combination agent. Hydroxyurea is currently used more in combination therapy, even though it is efficacious as a monotherapy. Gallium nitrate showed mixed results in combination therapy, while the combination activity of didox is yet to be evaluated. RR1 inhibitors that have long been used in chemotherapy such as gemcitabine, cladribine, fludarabine and clofarabine are currently used mostly as a combination therapy, but are equally efficacious as a monotherapy, except tezacitabine which did not progress beyond phase I trials.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results of clinical trials, we conclude that RR inhibitors are viable treatment options, either as a monotherapy or as a combination in cancer chemotherapy. With the recent advances made in cancer biology, further development of RR inhibitors with improved efficacy and reduced toxicity is possible for treatment of variety of cancers.

Redox Homeostasis and Cellular Antioxidant Systems: Crucial Players in Cancer Growth and Therapy

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and their products are components of cell signaling pathways and play important roles in cellular physiology and pathophysiology. Under physiological conditions, cells control ROS levels by the use of scavenging systems such as superoxide dismutases, peroxiredoxins, and glutathione that balance ROS generation and elimination. Under oxidative stress conditions, excessive ROS can damage cellular proteins, lipids, and DNA, leading to cell damage that may contribute to carcinogenesis. Several studies have shown that cancer cells display an adaptive response to oxidative stress by increasing expression of antioxidant enzymes and molecules. As a double-edged sword, ROS influence signaling pathways determining beneficial or detrimental outcomes in cancer therapy. In this review, we address the role of redox homeostasis in cancer growth and therapy and examine the current literature regarding the redox regulatory systems that become upregulated in cancer and their role in promoting tumor progression and resistance to chemotherapy.

Cellular redox pathways as a therapeutic target in the treatment of cancer

The vulnerability of some cancer cells to oxidative signals is a therapeutic target for the rational design of new anticancer agents. In addition to their well characterized effects on cell division, many cytotoxic anticancer agents can induce oxidative stress by modulating levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as the superoxide anion radical, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals. Tumour cells are particularly sensitive to oxidative stress as they typically have persistently higher levels of ROS than normal cells due to the dysregulation of redox balance that develops in cancer cells in response to increased intracellular production of ROS or depletion of antioxidant proteins. In addition, excess ROS levels potentially contribute to oncogenesis by the mediation of oxidative DNA damage. There are several anticancer agents in development that target cellular redox regulation. The overall cellular redox state is regulated by three systems that modulate cellular redox status by counteracting free radicals and ROS, or by reversing the formation of disulfides; two of these are dependent on glutathione and the third on thioredoxin. Drugs targeting S-glutathionylation have direct anticancer effects via cell signalling pathways and inhibition of DNA repair, and have an impact on a wide range of signalling pathways. Of these agents, NOV-002 and canfosfamide have been assessed in phase III trials, while a number of others are undergoing evaluation in early phase clinical trials. Alternatively, agents including PX-12, dimesna and motexafin gadolinium are being developed to target thioredoxin, which is overexpressed in many human tumours, and this overexpression is associated with aggressive tumour growth and poorer clinical outcomes. Finally, arsenic derivatives have demonstrated antitumour activity including antiproliferative and apoptogenic effects on cancer cells by pro-oxidant mechanisms, and the induction of high levels of oxidative stress and apoptosis by an as yet undefined mechanism. In this article we review anticancer drugs currently in development that target cellular redox activity to treat cancer.

Effects of motexafin gadolinium in a phase II trial in refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells are susceptible to oxidative stress. The expanded porphyrin, motexafin gadolinium (MGd), reacts with intracellular reducing metabolites and protein thiols to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). A phase II trial administered MGd 5 mg/kg/day IV for 5 days every 3 weeks until disease progression to patients with previously treated CLL and small lymphocytic lymphoma. Thirteen patients (median age 66 years) with a median of four prior therapies (range 2-9) were enrolled. Modest anti-tumor activity was seen in three patients, with improvement in lymphocytosis, lymphadenopathy and/or splenomegaly, but no patient achieved a partial or complete response by NCI 96 criteria. Flow cytometry confirmed tumor uptake of MGd. Serial increase in AKT phosphorylation in patient samples following MGd treatment was not observed, suggesting intracellular generation of ROS was not optimal. Therefore, this schedule of administration achieved MGd uptake into primary tumor cells in vivo, but clinical activity was modest.

Redox-directed cancer therapeutics: molecular mechanisms and opportunities

Redox dysregulation originating from metabolic alterations and dependence on mitogenic and survival signaling through reactive oxygen species represents a specific vulnerability of malignant cells that can be selectively targeted by redox chemotherapeutics. This review will present an update on drug discovery, target identification, and mechanisms of action of experimental redox chemotherapeutics with a focus on pro- and antioxidant redox modulators now in advanced phases of preclinal and clinical development. Recent research indicates that numerous oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes exert their functions in part through redox mechanisms amenable to pharmacological intervention by redox chemotherapeutics. The pleiotropic action of many redox chemotherapeutics that involves simultaneous modulation of multiple redox sensitive targets can overcome cancer cell drug resistance originating from redundancy of oncogenic signaling and rapid mutation.Moreover, some redox chemotherapeutics may function according to the concept of synthetic lethality (i.e., drug cytotoxicity is confined to cancer cells that display loss of function mutations in tumor suppressor genes or upregulation of oncogene expression). The impressive number of ongoing clinical trials that examine therapeutic performance of novel redox drugs in cancer patients demonstrates that redox chemotherapy has made the crucial transition from bench to bedside.

Motexafin gadolinium and involved field radiation therapy for intrinsic pontine glioma of childhood: a Children's Oncology Group phase I study

The purpose of this study was to determine the dose-limiting toxicities, maximum tolerated dose, pharmacokinetics, and intratumor and brain distribution of motexafin gadolinium (MGd) with involved field radiation therapy in children with newly diagnosed intrinsic pontine gliomas. MGd was administered as a 5-min intravenous bolus 2-5 h prior to standard radiation. The starting dose was 1.7 mg/kg. After first establishing that 5 doses/week for 6 weeks was tolerable, the dose of MGd was escalated until dose-limiting toxicity was reached. Radiation therapy was administered to 54 Gy in 30 once-daily fractions. Forty-four children received MGd at doses of 1.7 to 9.2 mg/kg daily prior to radiation therapy for 6 weeks. The maximum tolerated dose was 4.4 mg/kg. The primary dose-limiting toxicities were grade 3 and 4 hypertension and elevations in serum transaminases. Median elimination half-life and clearance values were 6.6 h and 25.4 ml/kg/h, respectively. The estimated median survival was 313 days (95% confidence interval, 248-389 days). The maximum tolerated dose of MGd and the recommended phase II dose was 4.4 mg/kg when administered as a daily intravenous bolus in conjunction with 6 weeks of involved field radiation therapy for pediatric intrinsic pontine gliomas.

Small Animal Absorbed Radiation Dose from Serial Micro-Computed Tomography Imaging

PURPOSE

To determine the radiation dose to mouse cancer xenografts from serial micro-computed tomography (CT) examinations.

PROCEDURES

A nude mouse with a 15-mm subcutaneous pancreatic cancer xenograft in the rightflank was used. Radiation exposure to the subcutaneous tumor and the mouse pancreas (to simulate an orthotopic pancreatic tumor model) was measured using lithium fluoride thermoluminescent dosimeters. Ultrafast micro-CT was performed using 80 kVp, 0.26 mA, 0.156 mm slice thickness, 256 slices, 0.7 mm Al filtration, and 60-second image acquisition time (15 mA second). Micro-CT imaging acquisitions were repeated four times.

RESULTS

We measured consistently low tumor doses (0.014 to 0.02 Gy; average=0.017 Gy) per scan. Orthotopic doses in the region of the pancreas were also consistently low (0.014 to 0.018 Gy; average=0.016 Gy) per scan.

CONCLUSIONS

Radiation doses delivered during ultrafast micro-CT serial imaging in the mouse are low and are likely below the threshold to affect tumor growth.