An Activatable
Prodrug for the Treatment of Metastatic Tumors
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Abstract
Metastatic
cancers have historically been difficult to treat. However, metastatic
tumors have been found to have high levels of reactive oxygen species
such as hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>), supporting
the hypothesis that a prodrug could be activated by intracellular
H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> and lead to a potential antimetastatic
therapy. In this study, prodrug <b>7</b> was designed to be
activated by H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>-mediated boronate oxidation,
resulting in activation of the fluorophore for detection and release
of the therapeutic agent, SN-38. Drug release from prodrug <b>7</b> was investigated by monitoring fluorescence after addition of H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> to the cancer cells. Prodrug <b>7</b> activated
by H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2,</sub> selectively inhibited tumor cell growth.
Furthermore, intratracheally administered prodrug <b>7</b> showed
effective antitumor activity in a mouse model of metastatic lung disease.
Thus, this H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>-responsive prodrug has therapeutic
potential as a novel treatment for metastatic cancer via cellular
imaging with fluorescence as well as selective release of the anticancer
drug, SN-38