BioCentury
ARTICLE | Distillery Therapeutics

Cancer

August 29, 2018 5:52 PM UTC

Patient sample, cell culture and mouse studies suggest inhibiting MAST1 could help treat cisplatin-resistant cancer. In tumor samples from squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) patients receiving cisplatin, high MAST1 levels were associated with poor survival and resistance to cisplatin. In cisplatin-resistant cervical and lung cancer cell lines, an shRNA targeting MAST1 plus cisplatin increased cell death and decreased colony formation compared with either agent alone. In a xenograft mouse model of cisplatin-resistant cervical cancer, the MAST1-targeting shRNA plus cisplatin decreased tumor growth and weight. In xenograft mouse models of cisplatin-resistant SCCHN, lung cancer and ovarian cancer, lestaurtinib -- which inhibits MAST1 -- plus cisplatin decreased tumor growth and cancer cell proliferation compared with either agent alone. Next steps could include developing and testing selective MAST1 inhibitors in combination with cisplatin in the models...