title: CXCR4 peptide antagonist inhibits primary breast tumor growth, metastasis and enhances the efficacy of anti-VEGF treatment or docetaxel in a transgenic mouse model.
abstract: CXCR4 is a chemokine receptor implicated in the homing of cancer cells to target metastatic organs, which overexpress its ligand, stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1. To determine the efficacy of targeting CXCR4 on primary tumor growth and metastasis, we used a peptide inhibitor of CXCR4, CTCE-9908, that was administered in a clinically relevant approach using a transgenic breast cancer mouse model. We first performed a dosing experiment of CTCE-9908 in the PyMT mouse model, testing 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg versus the scrambled peptide in groups of 8-16 mice. We then combined CTCE-9908 with docetaxel or DC101 (an anti-VEGFR2 monoclonal antibody). We found that increasing doses of CTCE-9908 alone slowed the rate of tumor growth, with a 45% inhibition of primary tumor growth at 3.5 weeks of treatment with 50 mg/kg of CTCE-9908 (p = 0.005). Expression levels of VEGF were also found to be reduced by 42% with CTCE-9908 (p = 0.01). In combination with docetaxel, CTCE-9908 administration decreased tumor volume by 38% (p = 0.02), an effect that was greater than that observed with docetaxel alone. In combination with DC101, CTCE-9908 also demonstrated an enhanced effect compared to DC101 alone, with a 37% decrease in primary tumor volume (p = 0.01) and a 75% reduction in distant metastasis (p = 0.009). In combination with docetaxel or an anti-angiogenic agent, the anti-tumor and anti-metastatic effects of CTCE-9908 were markedly enhanced, suggesting potentially new effective combinatorial therapeutic strategies in the treatment of breast cancer, which include targeting the SDF-1/CXCR4 ligand/receptor pair.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Lady Davis Institute, Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Saima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: Marguerite
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buchanan
authors.forename: Kaushar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jahan
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aguilar-Mahecha
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gaboury
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: Yaqoob
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Alsawafi
authors.forename: Anna A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mourskaia
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Siegel
authors.forename: Ombretta
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Salvucci
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Basik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000077143:Docetaxel; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008325:Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010455:Peptides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D043823:Taxoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; C540323:CTCE-9908; D010455:Peptides; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4; D043823:Taxoids; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000077143:Docetaxel