Molecular imaging reveals a role for AKT in resistance to cisplatin for ovarian endometrioid adenocarcinoma.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among American women. Platinum-based chemotherapy, such as cisplatin, represents the standard-of-care for ovarian cancer. However, toxicity and acquired resistance to cisplatin have proven challenging in the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN:

Using a genetically engineered mouse model of ovarian endometrioid adenocarcinoma (OEA) in combination with molecular-imaging technologies, we studied the activation of the AKT serine/threonine kinase in response to long-term cisplatin therapy.

RESULTS:

Treatment of cells in culture and tumor-bearing animals with cisplatin resulted in activation of AKT, a key mediator of cell survival. On the basis of these results, we investigated the therapeutic use of AKT inhibition in combination with cisplatin, which resulted in enhanced and prolonged induction of apoptosis and in significantly improved tumor control as compared with either agent alone.

CONCLUSION:

These results provide an impetus for clinical trials using combination therapy. To facilitate these trials, we also show the use of diffusion-weighted MRI as an imaging biomarker for evaluation of therapeutic efficacy in OEA.

• Authors: Hanxiao Wang, Stefanie Galbán, Rong Wu, Brittany M Bowman, Amanda Witte, Katrin Vetter, Craig J Galbán, Brian D Ross, Kathleen R Cho, Alnawaz Rehemtulla
• Journal: Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (Clin Cancer Res) Vol. 19 Issue 1 Pg. 158-69 (Jan 01 2013) ISSN: 1557-3265 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 23095324 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.)

Chemical References

• Antineoplastic Agents
• Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
• Cisplatin

Topics

• Animals
• Antineoplastic Agents (administration & dosage, pharmacology)
• Apoptosis (drug effects)
• Carcinoma, Endometrioid (drug therapy, genetics, metabolism)
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Cisplatin (administration & dosage, pharmacology)
• Disease Models, Animal
• Drug Resistance, Neoplasm (genetics)
• Female
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Mice
• Mice, Transgenic
• Molecular Imaging
• Ovarian Neoplasms (drug therapy, genetics, metabolism)
• Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt (antagonists & inhibitors, genetics, metabolism)
• Transplantation, Homologous
• Tumor Microenvironment