aclarubicin and Pancreatic-Neoplasms

There were 80 patients with measurable metastatic or unresectable pancreatic cancer randomly assigned to treatment with either DHAD, VP-16, aclacinomycin, or spirogermanium. There were no complete or partial responses. Two deaths from leukopenia occurred in patients treated with DHAD. One patient receiving spirogermanium experienced a seizure. No other life-threatening toxicities occurred. Maximal toxicities were not significantly more frequent with any treatment group. Median survival was 10 weeks, and median time to progression was only 6 weeks, with no difference among these four therapies.

Topics: Aclarubicin; Adenocarcinoma; Adjuvants, Immunologic; Antineoplastic Agents; Etoposide; Female; Humans; Male; Mitoxantrone; Organometallic Compounds; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Spiro Compounds; Survival Rate

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal types of cancer, mainly due to its delayed diagnosis and lack of effective therapeutic options. Therefore, it is imperative to find novel treatment options for PDAC. Here, we tested a series of conventional chemotherapeutics together with anthracycline compounds as single agents or in combination, determining their effectivity against established commercial and patient-derived, low-passage PDAC cell lines. Proliferation and colony formation assays were performed to determine the anticancer activity of anthracyclines; aclarubicin and doxorubicin, on commercial and patient-derived, low-passage PDAC cell lines. In addition, the effect of standard-of-care drugs gemcitabine and individual components of FOLFIRINOX were also investigated. To evaluate which mechanisms of cell death were involved in drug response, cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase was evaluated by western blot. Aclarubicin showed superior antitumor activity compared to other anthracyclines and standard of care drugs (gemcitabine and individual components of FOLFIRINOX) in a patient-derived, low-passage PDAC cell line and in commercial cell lines. Importantly, the combination of gemcitabine and aclarubicin showed a synergistic effect at a dose range where the single agents by themselves were ineffective. In parallel, evaluation of the antitumor activity of aclarubicin demonstrated an apoptotic effect in all PDAC cell lines. Aclarubicin is cytotoxic for commercial and patient-derived low-passage PDAC cell lines, at doses lower than peak serum concentrations for patient treatment. Our findings support a (re)consideration of aclarubicin as a backbone of new combination regimens for pancreatic cancer patients.

Topics: Aclarubicin; Anthracyclines; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; Antineoplastic Agents; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Apoptosis; Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; Cytotoxins; Humans; Pancreatic Neoplasms

Sensitivities to anti-tumor drugs, mitomycin C (MMC), aclarubicin hydrochloride (ACR), doxorubicin hydrochloride (ADR), cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil (5FU), were examined using PK-1, -8, -9, -12, -14, and -16 cell lines derived from human pancreatic cancer. These cell lines showed different sensitivities to each of the above anti-tumor drugs. The concentrations required for 50% growth-inhibition (IC50) after 2 hours of exposure were 0.096 to 0.35 micrograms/ml for MMC, 0.0074 to 0.0076 micrograms/ml for ACR, 0.033 to 0.23 micrograms/ml for ADR, 0.35 to 1.9 micrograms/ml for cisplatin, and 21 to 42 micrograms/ml for 5FU, IC50 of each anti-tumor drug decreased significantly after 48 hours of exposure. The combination of any two out of MMC, ACR, and 5FU showed synergistic inhibition of the growth of PK-1 and PK-8 cell lines. These results show that MMC, ACR, ADR, cisplatin, and 5FU have sufficient anti-tumor effect against six human pancreatic cancer cell lines even at clinically achievable concentrations and exposure times, and chemotherapy for pancreatic cancers requires naturally effective drug delivery into cancer tissues.

Topics: Aclarubicin; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Carcinoma; Cell Division; Cisplatin; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Doxorubicin; Drug Synergism; Fluorouracil; Humans; Mice; Mice, Nude; Mitomycin; Mitomycins; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Tumor Cells, Cultured