In India, socioeconomic inequality limiting access to treatment is a major factor towards increased cancer burden; therefore, incorporation of a cost-effective and comprehensive multi-gene test will be helpful in ensuring widespread implementation of genetic screening in the clinical practice for hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancers.

Breast and/or ovarian cancer (BOC) are among the most frequently diagnosed forms of hereditary cancers and leading cause of death in India. This emphasizes on the need for a cost-effective method for early detection of these cancers. We sequenced 141 unrelated patients and families with BOC using the TruSight Cancer panel, which includes 13 genes strongly associated with risk of inherited BOC. Multi-gene sequencing was done on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Genetic variations were identified using the Strand NGS software and interpreted using the StrandOmics platform. We were able to detect pathogenic mutations in 51 (36.2%) cases, out of which 19 were novel mutations. When we considered familial breast cancer cases only, the detection rate increased to 52%. When cases were stratified based on age of diagnosis into three categories, ⩽40 years, 40-50 years and >50 years, the detection rates were higher in the first two categories (44.4% and 53.4%, respectively) as compared with the third category, in which it was 26.9%. Our study suggests that next-generation sequencing-based multi-gene panels increase the sensitivity of mutation detection and help in identifying patients with a high risk of developing cancer as compared with sequential tests of individual genes.

Thus, the brain penetration of palbociclib is restricted by P-gp and BCRP, which may restrict the efficacy against GBM and DIPG. Moreover, preclinical studies with this agent should be conducted at a more clinically relevant dose level.

Purpose: The PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway is frequently activated in glioblastoma and offers several druggable targets. However, clinical efficacy of PI3K/mTOR inhibitors in glioblastoma has not yet been demonstrated. Insufficient drug delivery may limit the efficacy of PI3K/mTOR inhibitors against glioblastoma. The presence of the efflux transporters ABCB1/Abcb1 (P-glycoprotein, MDR1) and ABCG2/Abcg2 (BCRP) at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) restricts the brain penetration of many drugs.Experimental Design: We used in vitro drug transport assays and performed pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic studies in wild-type and ABC-transporter knockout mice. The efficacy of PI3K-mTOR inhibition was established using orthotopic allograft and genetically engineered spontaneous glioblastoma mouse models.Results: The mTOR inhibitors rapamycin and AZD8055 are substrates of ABCB1, whereas the dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor NVP-BEZ235 and the PI3K inhibitor ZSTK474 are not. Moreover, ABCG2 transports NVP-BEZ235 and AZD8055, but not ZSTK474 or rapamycin. Concordantly, Abcb1a/bÀ/À mice revealed increased brain penetration of rapamycin (13-fold), AZD8055 (7.7-fold), and NVP-BEZ235 (4.5-fold), but not ZSTK474 relative to WT mice. Importantly, ABC transporters limited rapamycin brain penetration to subtherapeutic levels, while the reduction in NVP-BEZ235 brain penetration did not prevent target inhibition.

Characterization of the genomic landscapes of intracranial tumours has revealed a clear role for the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway in tumorigenesis and tumour maintenance of these malignancies, making phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibition a promising therapeutic strategy for these tumours. Buparlisib is a novel pan-PI3K inhibitor that is currently in clinical development for various cancers, including primary and secondary brain tumours. Importantly however, earlier studies have revealed that sufficient brain penetration is a prerequisite for antitumor efficacy against intracranial tumours. We therefore investigated the brain penetration of buparlisib using a comprehensive set of in vitro and in vivo mouse models. We demonstrate that buparlisib has an excellent brain penetration that is unaffected by efflux transporters at the blood-brain barrier, complete oral bioavailability and efficient intracranial target inhibition at clinically achievable plasma concentrations. Together, these characteristics make buparlisib the ideal candidate for intracranially-targeted therapeutic strategies that involve PI3K inhibition.