Efficacy of a Three Drug-Based Therapy for Neuroblastoma in Mice

Abstract

High-risk neuroblastoma (HR-NB) still remains the most dangerous tumor in early childhood. For this reason, the identification of new therapeutic approaches is of fundamental importance. Recently, we combined the conventional pharmacological approach to NB, represented by cisplatin, with fendiline hydrochloride, an inhibitor of several transporters involved in multidrug resistance of cancer cells, which demonstrated an enhancement of the ability of cisplatin to induce apoptosis. In this work, we co-administrated acetazolamide, a carbonic anhydrase isoform IX (CAIX) inhibitor which was reported to increase chemotherapy efficacy in various cancer types, to the cisplatin/fendiline approach in SKNBE2 xenografts in NOD-SCID mice with the aim of identifying a novel and more effective treatment. We observed that the combination of the three drugs increases more than twelvefold the differences in the cytotoxic activity of cisplatin alone, leading to a remarkable decrease of the expression of malignancy markers. Our conclusion is that this approach, based on three FDA-approved drugs, may constitute an appropriate improvement of the pharmacological approach to HR-NB.

BAP31 Promotes Angiogenesis via Galectin-3 Upregulation in Neuroblastoma

“…Neuroblastoma exhibits a wide range of clinical behaviors, with some tumors undergoing spontaneous regression, whereas others follow an aggressive course. Extensive research has been conducted on this childhood cancer, including studies on infant screening, stem cell transplantation, prognostic genes, drug-based treatments, and DNA methylation fingerprints [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

New Advancements in Cisplatin-Based Treatments

“…The use of diclofenac in combination therapy with cisplatin significantly increases ROS-induced macroautophagy [ 10 ]. Aiming to improve the cancer pharmacological approach, a pilot study demonstrated, in a neuroblastoma xenograft model, the strengthening of cisplatin effects when administered as cocktail therapy with acetazolamide, a carbonic anhydrase isoform IX inhibitor, and fendiline hydrochloride, an inhibitor of several transporters involved in multidrug resistance of cancer cells [ 11 ].…”