Abstract 1864: Pharmacologic inhibition of NAMPT sensitizes pancreatic cancer cells to the antineoplastic effects of metformin

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Abstract The use of the anti-diabetic drug metformin has been correlated with a reduced cancer incidence, suggesting an unexpected anti-neoplastic activity for this compound. Since metformin treatment is safe and economical, there is considerable interest in exploring its anticancer activity in patients. Pancreatic cancer (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: PDAC) is one of the most aggressive neoplastic diseases, for which there is no treatment significantly increasing patient's survival. Metformin use was associated with reduced pancreatic cancer incidence or better survival in diabetics. In vitro, metformin decreases cell survival and growth of pancreatic cancer cells and appears to target tumor-initiating cells. In vivo, metformin decreases growth of human pancreatic cancer cell lines xenografts in mice. However, clinical trials using metformin failed to decrease pancreatic cancer progression in patients, raising important questions about molecular mechanisms that protect tumor cells from the antineoplastic activities of metformin. We discovered a new mechanism of resistance to the anti-oncogenic properties of metformin in PDAC cells through up-regulation of NAMPT and increase of NAD+ synthesis. Using an inhibitor specific to NAMPT, FK866, we sensitized PDAC cells to the effects of metformin in vitro. In vivo, FK866 increased the efficiency of metformin treatment on KP4 cells xenografts. As both metformin and FK866 clinical trials have failed to efficiently treat cancer, the combination of these two compounds may be a promising strategy to treat pancreatic cancer and maybe other malignancies. Citation Format: Gerardo Ferbeyre, Maxime Parisotto, Marie-Camille Rowell, Véronique Bourdeau, Andreea R. Schmitzer. Pharmacologic inhibition of NAMPT sensitizes pancreatic cancer cells to the antineoplastic effects of metformin [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1864.