Two blood cancer drugs, romidepsin and decitabine, may form a partnership that can treat specific types of breast and kidney cancers, based on data from a stem cell study published online in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.
Each drug is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat hematologic cancer, but this study uniquely combined romidepsin (Istodax) and decitabine (Dacogen) to activate a tumor suppressor gene that is inactive in triple-negative breast cancer and clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
Activating the gene known as secreted frizzled-related protein 1 (sFRP1) killed kidney and breast cancer cells in multiple cell lines tested, but only when the drugs were used in tandem (Mol. Cancer Ther. July 23, 2012 [doi:10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-11-0873]).
Ultimately, clinicians may be able to target treatment of triple-negative breast cancer and clear cell renal cell carcinoma by identifying which patients have tumors in which sFRP1 is inactivated, the researchers noted. "We predict that there are a number of drug targetable genes that are re-expressed after combinatorial treatment that possess antitumor activity," they said.
"We now have the basis for a clinical trial aimed at providing effective therapy for two drug-resistant cancers and perhaps many more tumor types in the future," senior author John A. Copland, Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, added in a statement issued July 31 by the Mayo Clinic.
The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose. The study was funded in part by grants from several organizations, including the National Cancer Institute; Kidney Cancer Research at Mayo Clinic, Florida; and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.