Clinical relevance of P-glycoprotein expression in haematological malignancies

Although, generally speaking, haematological malignancies are chemotherapy-responsive tumours and high remission induction rates are obtained, disease-related death is the rule rather than the exception. The appearance of cell populations, resistant to multidrug-based chemotherapy, constitutes the major problem to achieve cures in these patients. Advances in cell biology have partly contributed to the elucidation of different multidrug resistance (MDR) mechanisms, which enable cells to survive the cytotoxic effects of multiple chemotherapeutic agents. Of these resistance mechanisms, the one that is referred to as classical MDR is the most extensively studied, both in the laboratory as well as in patients, and here we will focus on its clinical relevance in haematological malignancies. The classical MDR phenotype is caused by enhanced cellular drug efflux due to increased activity of a membrane-bound glycoprotein (P-glycoprotein) drug pump, that can pump out anthracyclines, anthracenediones, vinca alkaloids and epipodophyllotoxins, thereby actively lowering the intracellular drug concentrations to sublethal levels. As soon as molecular probes for the detection of MDR cells became available, clinical studies were initiated to answer three main questions. Do human tumour cells express P-glycoprotein? If so, is the expression indicative of a bad prognosis, c.q. resistant disease? And last but not least, can we interfere with the P-glycoprotein drug pump in the patient? Clinical data indicate that classical MDR may be involved in the development of drug resistance, especially in some haematological malignancies, such as acute myelocytic leukaemia (AML), non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL), and multiple myelomas (MM). In almost all types of haematological malignancies, either untreated or treated, elevated P-glycoprotein levels have been reported, ranging from low to high. However, the acquisition of clinical MDR associated with P-glycoprotein expression occurs only in those diseases (for example, AML and MM) that are heavily treated with MDR-related drugs, probably by selection of pre-existing P-glycoprotein-expressing malignant cells. Since P-glycoprotein is found to be expressed on the membrane of normal haemopoietic progenitor cells as well, it seems likely that P-glycoprotein-positive haematological tumours develop by malignant transformation of P-glycoprotein-expressing normal haemopoietic counterparts. Especially for AML, convincing data have been reported in the literature to show that P-glycoprotein expression at diagnosis is a bad prognostic factor that predicts refractoriness. Using in vitro model systems for classical MDR, a large number of agents have been identified that can circumvent P-glycoprotein-mediated drug resistance, the so-called resistance modifying agents (RMA). Subsequently, clinical phase I and II studies have been initiated which combine the use of MDR-related drugs in conjunction with RMAs. The overall conclusions from such studies in AML, NHL, and MM are that modulation of drug resistance by RMAs seems promising and that further evaluation in prospective, randomized phase III trials is warranted

The Development of Novel Organotin Anti-Tumor Drugs: Structure and Activity

An overview of the development of anti-tumor organotin derivatives in selected classes of compounds is presented and discussed. High to very high in vitro activity has been found, sometimes equaling that of doxorubicin. Solubility in water is an important issue, dominating the in vivo testing of compounds with promising in vitro properties. The cytotoxicity of the compounds was increased by the presence of a bulky group, an active substituent or one or more polar substituents. Polar substituents may also improve the water solubility. Although organotin derivatives constitute a separate class of compounds, the comparison with cisplatin is inevitable. Among the observed toxicities, neurotoxicity, known from platinum cytostatics, and gastrointestinal toxicity, typical for many oncology drugs, have been detected. Further research to develop novel, useful organotin anti-tumor compounds should be carried out

Determination of the lactone and lactone plus carboxylate forms of 9-aminocamptothecin in human plasma by sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

Two sensitive reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic fluorescence methods, with simple sample handling at the site of the patient, are described for the determination of the lactone and lactone plus carboxylate forms of g-aminocamptothecin (9AC). For 9AC lactone, the sample preparation was a liquid-liquid extraction with acetonitrile-n-butyl chloride (1:4, v/v), whereas the sample preparation for 9AC total (lactone plus carboxylate) was a simple deproteinization with 5% perchloric acid-methanol (1:1, v/v), which results in the conversion of the carboxylate into the lactone form. The lower limits of quantitation were 50 pg/ml and 100 pg/ml for 9AC lactone and 9AC total, respectively. The within-run precisions at four tested concentrations were ≤6.3% for 9AC lactone and ≤5.3% for 9AC total. The between-run precisions were ≤8.9% and ≤5.6%, respectively. The assays were developed to enable pharmacological analysis of 9AC in a bioavailability and oral phase I study in patients with solid tumors

Role of intestinal P-glycoprotein in the plasma and fecal disposition of docetaxel in humans

Multidrug resistance (MDR)-1-P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a drug-transporting protein that is abundantly present in biliary ductal cells and epithelial cells lining the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we have determined the role of P-gp in the metabolic disposition of the antineoplastic agent docetaxel (Taxotere) in humans. Pharmacokinetic profiles were evaluated in five cancer patients receiving treatment cycles with docetaxel alone (100 mg/m2 i.v. over a 1-h period) and in combination with a new potent inhibitor of P-gp activity, R101933 (200-300 mg b.i.d.). The terminal disposition half-life and total plasma clearance of docetaxel were not altered by treatment with oral R101933 (P > or = 0.27). The cumulative fecal excretion of docetaxel, however, was markedly reduced from 8.47 +/- 2.14% (mean +/- SD) of the dose with the single agent to less than 0.5% in the presence of R101933 (P = 0.0016). Levels of the major cytochrome P450 3A4-mediated metabolites of docetaxel in feces were significantly increased after combination treatment with R101933 (P = 0.010), indicating very prominent and efficient detoxification of reabsorbed docetaxel into hydroxylated compounds before reaching the systemic circulation. It is concluded that intestinal P-gp plays a principal role in the fecal elimination of docetaxel by modulating reabsorption of the drug after hepatobiliary secretion. In addition, the results indicate that inhibition of P-gp activity in normal tissues by effective modulators, and the physiological and pharmacological consequences of this treatment, cannot be predicted based on plasma drug monitoring alone

Inactivation of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae SKY1 gene induces a specific modification of the yeast anticancer drug sensitivity profile accompanied by a mutator phenotype

The therapeutic potential of the highly active anticancer agent cisplatin is severely limited by the occurrence of cellular resistance. A better understanding of the molecular pathways involved in cisplatin-induced cell death could potentially indicate ways to overcome cellular unresponsiveness to the drug and thus lead to better treatment results. We used the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism to identify and characterize novel genes involved in cisplatin-induced cell kill, and found that SKY1 (SR-protein-specific kinase from budding yeast) is a cisplatin sensitivity gene whose disruption conferred cisplatin resistance. In cross-resistance studies, we observed resistance of yeast sky1 Delta cells (i.e., cells from which the SKY1 gene had been disrupted) to cisplatin, carboplatin (but not oxaliplatin), doxorubicin and daunorubicin, and hypersensitivity to cadmium chloride and 5-fluorouracil. Furthermore, these cells did not display reduced platinum accumulation, DNA platination or doxorubicin accumulation, indicating that the resistance is unrelated to decreased drug import or increased drug export. Based on the modification of the anticancer drug sensitivity profile and our finding that sky1 Delta cells display a mutator phenotype, we propose that Sky1p might play a significant role in specific repair and/or tolerance pathways. Disruption of the S. cerevisiae SKY1 gene would thus result in deregulation of such mechanisms and, consequently, lead to altered drug sensitivity

Determination of irinotecan (CPT-11) and its active metabolite SN-38 in human plasma by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

Sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic assays have been developed to determine the levels of the lactone and lactone plus carboxylate (total) forms of the antitumor agent irinotecan (CPT-11) and its active metabolite SN-38, in human plasma. The related compound camptothecin was used as the internal standard. The selective sample pretreatment for the lactone forms involved a single solvent extraction with acetonitrile-n-butyl chloride (1:4, v/v), whereas the sample clean-up for the total forms was a simple protein precipitation with aqueous perchloric acid-methanol (1:1, v/v), which results in the conversion of the carboxylate to the lactone forms. Chromatography was carried out on a Hypersil ODS column, with detection performed fluorimetrically. The methods have been validated, and stability tests under various conditions have been performed. The lower limits of quantitation are 0.5 and 2.0 ng/ml for the lactone and total forms, respectively. The assays have been used in a single pharmacokinetic experiment in a patient to investigate the applicability of the method in vivo