Combinatorial treatment of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors with tyrosine kinase inhibitors hinders proliferation and survival

Abstract

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) are the most common cause of death in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). At present, surgery is the only effective means of treating these highly aggressive sarcomas. We have shown that erbB membrane tyrosine kinases promote MPNST proliferation and invasion and that pan‐erbB inhibitors (e.g., canertinib) have potent cytostatic effects on MPNST cells. However, in other tumor types, multiple receptor tyrosine kinases are often coactivated, and combinatorial therapy is required to overcome resistance. To identify additional therapeutic targets, we treated four human MPNST cell lines with tyrosine kinase inhibitors acting on growth factor receptors (PDGF, VEGF, c‐Met, Kit) implicated in MPNST pathogenesis and examined the effects of these agents on proliferation and survival. Both canertinib and sorafenib potently inhibited proliferation and survival, while sunitinib, crizotinib and sorafenib were ineffective. Simultaneous treatment with canertinib and sorafenib additively inhibited survival, suggesting that combinatorial therapy with these agents may be effective against MPNSTs in vivo, a possibility that we are currently testing in orthotopically xenografted mice. We are also using kinomics to identify kinases impacted by canertinib and sorafenib that may represent additional therapeutic targets in MPNSTs. Funded by NIH and DOD.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2013
Source ID
10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.1088.4

Entities

People

  • Kevin Aaron Roth
  • Stephanie Nicole Brosius
  • Steven Lewis Carroll

Organizations

  • National Institutes of Health
  • United States Department of Defense
  • University of Alabama at Birmingham

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Medicine

Readers

  • Breast cancer cell signaling and growth regulation.
  • Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • Oncology (Cancer Research).