Purpose: Little is known about the optimal clinical use of for treatment of glioblastoma. ABT-888 is a PARP inhibitor undergoing extensive clinical evaluation in glioblastoma, because it may synergize with the standard-of-care temozolomide (TMZ). We have elucidated important factors controlling ABT-888 efficacy in glioblastoma.Experimental Design: We used genetically engineered spontaneous glioblastoma mouse models and allograft models that were orthotopically transplanted into wild-type (WT) and Abcb1/Abcg2-deficient (KO) recipients.Results: ABT-888/TMZ is not efficacious against p53;p16;LucR allografts in wild-type recipients, indicating inherent resistance. Abcb1/Abcg2 mediated efflux of ABT-888 at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) causes a 5-fold reduction of ABT-888 brain penetration (P < 0.0001) that was fully reversible by elacridar. Efficacy studies in WT and KO recipients and/or concomitant elacridar demonstrate that Abcb1/ Abcg2 at the BBB and in tumor cells impair TMZ/ABT-888 combination treatment efficacy. Elacridar also markedly improved TMZ/ABT-888 combination treatment in the spontaneous p53;p16 Ink4a /p19 Arf ;K-Ras v12 ; LucR glioblastoma model. Importantly, ABT-888 does enhance TMZ efficacy in Pten deficient glioblastoma allografts and spontaneous tumors, even in Abcb1/Abcg2 proficient wild-type mice. Loss of PTEN occurs frequently in glioblastoma (36%) and in silico analysis on patient with glioblastoma samples revealed that it is associated with a worse overall survival (310 days vs. 620 days, n ¼ 117).Conclusions: The potential of ABT-888 in glioblastoma can best be demonstrated in patients with PTEN null tumors. Therefore, clinical trials with ABT-888 should evaluate these patients as a separate group. Importantly, inhibition of ABCB1 and ABCG2 (by elacridar) may improve the efficacy of TMZ/ABT-888 therapy in all glioblastoma patients. Clin Cancer Res; 20(10); 2703-13. Ó2014 AACR.

The hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIF)-1/2α are the main oxygen sensors which regulate the adaptation to intratumoral hypoxia. The aim of this study was to assess the role of the HIF proteins in regulating the radiation response of a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in vitro model. To directly assess the unique and overlapping functions of HIF-1α and HIF-2α, we use CRISPR gene-editing to generate isogenic H1299 non-small cell lung carcinoma cells lacking HIF-1α, HIF-2α or both. We found that in HIF1 knockout cells, HIF-2α was strongly induced by hypoxia compared to wild type but the reverse was not seen in HIF2 knockout cells. Cells lacking HIF-1α were more radiation resistant than HIF2 knockout and wildtype cells upon hypoxia, which was associated with a reduced recruitment of γH2AX foci directly after irradiation and not due to differences in proliferation. Conversely, double-HIF1/2 knockout cells were most radiation sensitive and had increased γH2AX recruitment and cell cycle delay. Compensatory HIF-2α activity in HIF1 knockout cells is the main cause of this radioprotective effect. Under hypoxia, HIF1 knockout cells uniquely had a strong increase in lactate production and decrease in extracellular pH. Using genetically identical HIF-α isoform-deficient cells we identified a strong radiosensitizing of HIF1, but not of HIF2, which was associated with a reduced extracellular pH and reduced glycolysis.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-2α (HIF-2α) plays an important role in tumor progression and metastasis. A number of studies have evaluated the correlation between HIF-2α overexpression and clinical outcome in cancer patients but yielded inconsistent results. To comprehensively and quantitatively summarize the evidence on the capability of HIF-2α to predict the prognosis of cancer patients with solid tumors, a meta-analysis was carried out. Renal cell carcinoma (CC-RCC) was separately analyzed due to an alternative mechanism of regulation. Systematic literature searches were performed in PubMed and Embase databases for relevant original articles until February 2018. Forty-nine studies with 6,052 patients were included in this study. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with corresponding confidence intervals were calculated to assess the prognostic value of HIF-2α protein expression in tumor cells. The meta-analysis revealed strong significant negative associations between HIF-2α expression and five endpoints: overall survival [HR = 1.69, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.39–2.06], disease-free survival (HR = 1.87, 95% CI 1.2–2.92), disease-specific survival (HR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.06–2.34), metastasis-free survival (HR = 2.67, 95% CI 1.32–5.38), and progression-free survival (HR = 2.18, 95% CI 1.25–3.78). Subgroup analyses revealed similar associations in the majority of tumor sites. Overall, these data demonstrate a negative prognostic role of HIF-2α in patients suffering from different types of solid tumors.

Hyperactivity of the NOTCH pathway is associated with tumor growth and radiotherapy resistance in lung cancer, and NOTCH/γ-secretase inhibitors (GSIs) are a potential therapeutic target. The therapeutic outcome, however, is often restricted by the dose-limiting toxicity of combined treatments on the surrounding healthy tissue. The NOTCH signaling pathway is also crucial for homeostasis and repair of the normal airway epithelium. The effects of NOTCH/γ-secretase inhibition on the irradiation of normal lung epithelium are unknown and may counteract antitumor activity.Here we, therefore, investigated whether normal tissue toxicity to radiation is altered upon NOTCH pathway inhibition. We established air-liquid interface pseudostratified and polarized cultures from primary human bronchial epithelial cells and blocked NOTCH signaling alone or after irradiation with small-molecule NOTCH inhibitor/ GSI. We found that the reduction in proliferation and viability of bronchial stem cells (TP63+) in response to irradiation is rescued with concomitant NOTCH inhibition. This correlated with reduced activation of the DNA damage response and accelerated repair by 24 hours and 3 days postirradiation. The increase in basal cell proliferation and viability in GSI-treated and irradiated cultures resulted in an improved epithelial barrier function. Comparable results were obtained after in vivo irradiation, where the combination of NOTCH inhibition and irradiation increased the percentage of stem cells and ciliated cells ex vivo. These encourage further use of normal patient tissue for toxicity screening of combination treatments and disclose novel interactions between NOTCH inhibition and radiotherapy and opportunities for tissue repair after radiotherapy.

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<p>PDF file - 112K, Fig. S1. In vitro transwell assays. Fig. S2. PAR levels by Western blot analysis.</p>

<div>Abstract<p><b>Purpose:</b> Little is known about the optimal clinical use of ABT-888 (veliparib) for treatment of glioblastoma. ABT-888 is a PARP inhibitor undergoing extensive clinical evaluation in glioblastoma, because it may synergize with the standard-of-care temozolomide (TMZ). We have elucidated important factors controlling ABT-888 efficacy in glioblastoma.</p><p><b>Experimental Design:</b> We used genetically engineered spontaneous glioblastoma mouse models and allograft models that were orthotopically transplanted into wild-type (WT) and <i>Abcb1/Abcg2</i>-deficient (KO) recipients.</p><p><b>Results:</b> ABT-888/TMZ is not efficacious against <i>p53;p16^Ink4a/p19^Arf;K-Ras^v12;LucR</i> allografts in wild-type recipients, indicating inherent resistance. Abcb1/Abcg2 mediated efflux of ABT-888 at the blood–brain barrier (BBB) causes a 5-fold reduction of ABT-888 brain penetration (<i>P</i> < 0.0001) that was fully reversible by elacridar. Efficacy studies in WT and KO recipients and/or concomitant elacridar demonstrate that Abcb1/Abcg2 at the BBB and in tumor cells impair TMZ/ABT-888 combination treatment efficacy. Elacridar also markedly improved TMZ/ABT-888 combination treatment in the spontaneous <i>p53;p16^Ink4a/p19^Arf;K-Ras^v12;LucR</i> glioblastoma model. Importantly, ABT-888 does enhance TMZ efficacy in <i>Pten</i> deficient glioblastoma allografts and spontaneous tumors, even in <i>Abcb1/Abcg2</i> proficient wild-type mice. Loss of <i>PTEN</i> occurs frequently in glioblastoma (36%) and <i>in silico</i> analysis on patient with glioblastoma samples revealed that it is associated with a worse overall survival (310 days vs. 620 days, <i>n</i> = 117).</p><p><b>Conclusions:</b> The potential of ABT-888 in glioblastoma can best be demonstrated in patients with <i>PTEN</i> null tumors. Therefore, clinical trials with ABT-888 should evaluate these patients as a separate group. Importantly, inhibition of ABCB1 and ABCG2 (by elacridar) may improve the efficacy of TMZ/ABT-888 therapy in all glioblastoma patients. <i>Clin Cancer Res; 20(10); 2703–13. ©2014 AACR</i>.</p></div>