LC–MS/MS bioanalytical method for quantification of binimetinib and venetoclax, and their pharmacokinetic interaction

Aim: Because of several prospective benefits, binimetinib (BMT)-venetoclax (VTC) combination can be a better therapeutic strategy to treat cancer. Results: An LC–MS/MS method for simultaneous quantification of BMT and VTC in rat plasma has been developed and validated. Specificity, accuracy, precision and stability results met the acceptance criteria for validation. Accuracy and precisions at all quality control levels were <15%. The study revealed that co-administration of BMT and VTC has no significant effect on their pharmacokinetics. Conclusion: The developed method can provide accurate results for quantification of BMT and VTC over the range of 5–500 ng/ml. The reported pharmacokinetic interaction study results will be useful for future consideration of the combined treatment of BMT and VTC in anticancer chemotherapy regimens.

Effect of a novel piperazine compound on cancer cells

Many drugs have been developed for anticancer chemotherapy. However, more anti-cancer drugs should be developed from potential chemicals to circumvent the disadvantages of existing drugs. Most anti-cancer chemicals induce apoptosis in cancer cells. This study tested the efficiency of a new chemical, the piperazine derivative 1-[2-(Allylthio) benzoyl]-4-(4-methoxyphenyl) piperazine (CB01), on glioblastoma (U87) and cervix cancer (HeLa) cells. CB01 was highly cytotoxic to these cells (IC50S < 50 nM) and induced the traditional apoptotic symptoms of DNA fragmentation and nuclear condensation at 40 nM. Western-blot analysis of the cell lysates revealed that the intracellular apoptotic marker proteins, such as cleaved caspase-3, cytochrome c, and Bax, were highly upregulated in the CB01-treated cells. Furthermore, increased activities of caspase-3 and -9, but not caspase-8, were observed. Therefore, these results suggest that CB01 can act as an anticancer chemotherapeutic by stimulating the intrinsic mitochondrial signaling pathway to induce cytotoxicity and apoptosis in cancer cells.

Targeted Lipid Nanoparticles Encapsulating Dihydroartemisinin and Chloroquine Phosphate for Suppressing the Proliferation and Liver Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer

Antimalarial drugs Dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and chloroquine phosphate (CQ) exhibit evident anti-cancer activity, particularly as combination therapy. DHA and CQ combination therapy has been proved to exhibit higher cytotoxic effect in tumor cells and lower toxicity to normal cells than combination of artemisinin derivatives (ARTs) and anticancer chemotherapy drugs. However, different physiochemical properties of DHA and CQ, leading to distinctive in vivo outcomes, considerably limited their synergistic effect in cancer treatment. Herein, we developed a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) for co-delivery of DHA and CQ to inhibit proliferation and metastasis of colorectal cancer. Considering the beneficial effects of acid/reactive oxide species (ROS)-sensitive phospholipids and targeting ligands for colorectal cancer cells, an RGD peptide-modified pH/ROS dual-sensitive LNP loaded with DHA and CQ (RLNP/DC) was prepared. It exhibited optimal cytotoxicity and suppression of invasion and metastasis in HCT116 cells in vitro, attributable to irreversible upregulation of intracellular ROS levels, downregulation of VEGF expression, and upregulation of paxillin expression. A mouse model of orthotopic metastasis of colorectal cancer was established to evaluate anti-proliferation and anti-metastasis effects of RLNP/DC in vivo. Thus, an optimized nanoplatform for DHA and CQ combination therapy was developed in this study that offered potential antitumor efficacy against colorectal cancer.

Two case reports of pneumatosis intestinalis in patients with cancer: is surgical management mandatory?

Pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) can be classified into two groups. Primary PI is idiopathic, and patients can recover spontaneously. In contrast, secondary PI is considered fatal due to the high mortality rate associated with mesenteric ischemia. Herein, we describe two patients with PI and concurrent pneumoperitoneum. Both patients were receiving targeted anticancer therapy, yet neither developed abdominal pain nor fatal symptoms. One of the patients underwent surgery, while the other was managed conservatively. Even though there were no complications, the patient who underwent surgery was hospitalized for 34 days, whereas the one who was managed conservatively was hospitalized for only five days. Usually, patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy are immunosuppressed and susceptible to infections. Therefore, based on the patients’ clinical features, surgical management of patients with cancer who develop PI after receiving anticancer chemotherapy should be done prudently.

Anticancer Activity of Half-Sandwich Ru, Rh and Ir Complexes with Chrysin Derived Ligands: Strong Effect of the Side Chain in the Ligand and Influence of the Metal

An important challenge in the field of anticancer chemotherapy is the search for new species to overcome the resistance of standard drugs. An interesting approach is to link bioactive ligands to metal fragments. In this work, we have synthesized a set of p-cymene-Ru or cyclopentadienyl-M (M = Rh, Ir) complexes with four chrysin-derived pro-ligands with different -OR substituents at position 7 of ring A. The introduction of a piperidine ring on chrysin led to the highly cytotoxic pro-ligand HL4 and its metal complexes L4-M (SW480 and A549 cell lines, cytotoxic order: L4-Ir > L4-Ru ≈ L4-Rh). HL4 and its complexes induce apoptosis and can overcome cis-platinum resistance. However, HL4 turns out to be more cytotoxic in healthy than in tumor cells in contrast to its metal complexes which displayed higher selectivity than cisplatin towards cancer cells. All L4-M complexes interact with double stranded DNA. Nonetheless, the influence of the metal is clear because only complex L4-Ir causes DNA cleavage, through the generation of highly reactive oxygen species (1O2). This result supports the hypothesis of a potential dual mechanism consisting of two different chemical pathways: DNA binding and ROS generation. This behavior provides this complex with a great effectivity in terms of cytotoxicity.

Preparation and Characterization of Novel Anti-cancer drug (s) loaded Co-crystals

Background: Taxanes constitute an important class of anti-cancer agents, which are widely prescribed for the management of cancers like breast, lung and ovaries. These agents belong to Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) class IV, which are neither soluble in the aqueous systems nor permeable across the biological membranes. Objectve: Due to these concerns only, the oral bioavailabilities of these drugs are too low. Looking into these concerns, it was envisaged to develop co-crystals of docetaxel with syringic acid. Methods: For the preparation of co-crystals no single method is used. The methods range from spray drying, crystallization, ultrasonication and freeze drying to supercritical fluid methodologies. Results: The novel co-crystal not only improved the solubility and dissolution rates of the drug, but also resulted in improved pharmacokinetic profile. Conclusion: The present findings provide an economic and viable approach to improve the solubility and absorption profile of a drug, which is a vital component of the anticancer chemotherapy. Such studies provide a hope for the development of approaches to improve the solubility and permeability of drugs with challenges.

Perphenazine And Prochlorperazine Decrease Glioblastoma Cells Migration And Invasion: Analysis of ABCB1 And ABCG2 Transporters, e-cadherin, α-tubulin, And Integrins (α3, α5, and β1) Expression in U87-MG Cells

Purpose: Glioblastoma multiforme is the most frequent malignant brain tumor as well as one of the most lethal and untreatable human tumors with a very poor survival rate (up to 18 months). Thus, novel and effective strategies of treatment are still required since resistance and metastasis are major problems of anticancer chemotherapy. Interestingly, ABC transporters, which play a crucial role in the development of multidrug resistance, are modulated by phenothiazine derivatives, while cancer metastasis, migration, and invasion are regulated by cadherins, α-tubulin, and integrins. Methods: The impact on the motility of human glioblastoma U87-MG was performed by wound healing assay, cellular migration and invasion were performed by transwell assay, while ABCB1, ABCG2, E-cadherin, α-tubulin, and integrins (α3, α5, and β1) content were determined by Western blot.Results: The present study explores the effect of perphenazine and prochlorperazine on ABCB1, ABCG2, E-cadherin, α-tubulin, and integrins (α3, α5, and β1) amount as well as migration and invasion ability of human glioblastoma (U87-MG) cells suggesting that phenothiazine derivatives impair multidrug resistance proteins (ABCB1 and ABCG2), E-cadherin, α-tubulin, and integrins amount as well as impair migration and invasion of the U87-MG cell line. Conclusions: The study demonstrated that an increase of ABCG2 and E-cadherin as well as a decrease of α-tubulin, and integrins amount may explain the decrease of migration and invasion ability after phenothiazine derivatives treatment. Moreover, only prochlorperazine significantly reduces the rate of cell migration. Thus, the drug may be considered for the development of new and effective glioblastoma therapy.

Putative Repurposing of Lamivudine, a Nucleoside/Nucleotide Analogue and Antiretroviral to Improve the Outcome of Cancer and COVID-19 Patients

Lamivudine, also widely known as 3TC belongs to a family of nucleotide/nucleoside analogues of cytidine or cytosine that inhibits the Reverse Transcriptase (RT) of retroviruses such as HIV. Lamivudine is currently indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection or for chronic Hepatitis B (HBV) virus infection associated with evidence of hepatitis B viral replication and active liver inflammation. HBV reactivation in patients with HBV infections who receive anticancer chemotherapy can be a life-threatening complication during and after the completion of chemotherapy. Lamivudine is used, as well as other antiretrovirals, to prevent the reactivation of the Hepatitis B virus during and after chemotherapy. In addition, Lamivudine has been shown to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy. Lamivudine and other similar analogues also have direct positive effects in the prevention of cancer in hepatitis B or HIV positive patients, independently of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Recently, it has been proposed that Lamivudine might be also repurposed against SARS-CoV-2 in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this review we first examine recent reports on the re-usage of Lamivudine or 3TC against the SARS-CoV-2, and we present docking evidence carried out in silico suggesting that Lamivudine may bind and possibly work as an inhibitor of the SARS-CoV-2 RdRp RNA polymerase. We also evaluate and propose assessment of repurposing Lamivudine as anti-SARS-CoV-2 and anti-COVID-19 antiviral. Secondly, we summarize the published literature on the use of Lamivudine or (3TC) before or during chemotherapy to prevent reactivation of HBV, and examine reports of enhanced effectiveness of radiotherapy in combination with Lamivudine treatment against the cancerous cells or tissues. We show that the anti-cancer properties of Lamivudine are well established, whereas its putative anti-COVID effect is under investigation. The side effects of lamivudine and the appearance of resistance to 3TC are also discussed.

Targeting ovarian solid tumors by Elastin-like polypeptide drug conjugates: Current trends and future prospectives

Background: Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Polymers have low cytotoxicity and high functional ability and hence used for drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, and polymer therapeutics. In drug delivery systems, polymer-drug conjugates have shown considerable promise, especially in anticancer chemotherapy. Objective: Anticancer drug delivery systems (DDS) deliver drugs to the tumor site, leading to reduced exposure to healthy cells and reduced side effects. Efforts have been made to develop effective DDS using stimuli-responsive polymers like thermo sensitive and pH-sensitive polymers. Conclusion: Elastin-like polypeptides (ELP), one of the thermoresponsive polymers, have been identified as drug carriers in anticancer therapy. ELP-drug conjugates have the potential and can be used effectively in combination with hyperthermia for targeting drugs to solid tumors. This review reports on the use of ELPs in cancer therapy, its biomedical applications, and recent developments to target medicines to solid ovarian tumors.