In vitro to Clinical Translation of Combinatorial Effects of Doxorubicin and Abemaciclib in Rb-Positive Triple Negative Breast Cancer: A Systems-Based Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Modeling Approach.
BREAST CANCER-TARGETS AND THERAPY 2021;
13:87-105. [PMID:
33628047 PMCID:
PMC7899308 DOI:
10.2147/bctt.s292161]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Background
Doxorubicin (DOX) and its pegylated liposomal formulation (L_DOX) are the standard of care for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, resistance to DOX often occurs, motivating the search for alternative treatment approaches. The retinoblastoma protein (Rb) is a potential pharmacological target for TNBC treatment since its expression has been associated with resistance to DOX-based therapy.
Methods
DOX (0.01–20 μM) combination with abemaciclib (ABE, 1–6 μM) was evaluated over 72 hours on Rb-positive (MDA-MB-231) and Rb-negative (MDA-MB-468) TNBC cells. Combination indices (CI) for DOX+ABE were calculated using Compusyn software. The TNBC cell viability time-course and fold-change from the control of phosphorylated-Rb (pRb) protein expression were measured with CCK8-kit and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A cell-based pharmacodynamic (PD) model was developed, where pRb protein dynamics drove cell viability response. Clinical pharmacokinetic (PK) models for DOX, L_DOX, and ABE were developed using data extracted from the literature. After scaling cancer cell growth to clinical TNBC tumor growth, the time-to-tumor progression (TTP) was predicted for human dosing regimens of DOX, ABE, and DOX+ABE.
Results
DOX and ABE combinations were synergistic (CI<1) in MDA-MB-231 and antagonistic (CI>1) in MDA-MB-468. The maximum inhibitory effects (Imax) for both drugs were set to one. The drug concentrations producing 50% of Imax for DOX and ABE were 0.565 and 2.31 μM (MDA-MB-231) and 0.121 and 1.61 μM (MDA-MB-468). The first-orders rate constants of abemaciclib absorption (ka) and doxorubicin release from L_DOX (kRel) were estimated at 0.31 and 0.013 h−1. Their linear clearances were 21.7 (ABE) and 32.1 L/h (DOX). The estimated TTP for intravenous DOX (75 mg/m2 every 21 days), intravenous L_DOX (50 mg/m2 every 28 days), and oral ABE (200 mg twice a day) were 125, 31.2, and 8.6 days shorter than drug-free control. The TTP for DOX+ABE and L_DOX+ABE were 312 days and 47.5 days shorter than control, both larger than single-agent DOX, suggesting improved activity with the DOX+ABE combination.
Conclusion
The developed translational systems-based PK/PD model provides an in vitro-to-clinic modeling platform for DOX+ABE in TNBC. Although model-based simulations suggest improved outcomes with combination over monotherapy, tumor relapse was not prevented with the combination. Hence, DOX+ABE may not be an effective treatment combination for TNBC.
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