Cancer

Patient sample, cell culture and mouse studies suggest inhibiting AXL could help treat ovarian cancer. In patients, high tumor expression of AXL correlated with poor overall survival. In two human ovarian cancer cell lines, shRNA targeting AXL decreased the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), proliferation and invasiveness compared with a non-specific shRNA. In two orthotopic xenograft mouse models of ovarian cancer, an AXL inhibitor tool compound decreased tumor growth compared with vehicle. Next steps could include testing other AXL inhibitors in models of ovarian cancer.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. has BGB324, a small molecule inhibitor of AXL, in Phase I/II testing to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and in Phase I testing to treat acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). ...