BioCentury
ARTICLE | Distillery Therapeutics

Therapeutics: Nuclear receptor binding protein 2 (NRBP2)

September 29, 2016 7:00 AM UTC

Patient samples and cell culture studies suggest promoting NRBP2 expression could enhance the sensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to chemotherapy. In tissue samples from HCC patients, levels of NRBP2 were lower in tumor samples than in matched normal liver tissue samples. In two human HCC cell lines, a lentiviral vector encoding NRBP2 decreased the number and size of tumorspheres and cell proliferation compared with empty vector. In the HCC cell lines, co-treatment of Nexavar sorafenib, perifosine or the generic chemotherapy cisplatin with the lentiviral vector encoding NRBP2 decreased viability compared with co-treatment with empty vector. Next steps could include testing NRBP2 expression in cell and animal models of chemotherapy-resistant HCC.

Amgen Inc. and Bayer AG market Nexavar sorafenib, an inhibitor of CRAF (RAF1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor, to treat HCC, renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and thyroid cancer, and have the compound in Phase III testing to treat breast cancer and as adjuvant therapy for HCC...