Effective targeted antitumor activity of the antimicrobial agent taurolidine against relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma: Cytotoxicity, target modulation and tumor xenograft studies.

Abstract

e21502 Background: Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial solid tumor and one of the most complex and difficult to treat diseases in pediatrics. Currently, even with highly aggressive treatment protocols, the prognosis for patients with high-risk and relapsed NB remains poor. Hence, there is a clear need to identify new agents and novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of these children. Taurolidine (TRD) is derived from the aminosulfoacid taurine and has known anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. TRD has demonstrated anti-neoplastic activity against a range of aggressive human tumors. We present mechanistic evidence and supportive preclinical data from in vitro and animal models of refractory NB for the development of an early phase clinical trial incorporating TRD. Methods: For in vitro activity studies, a panel of cell lines derived from patients with relapsed NB (n = 6) and normal control cells were treated with increasing concentrations of TRD and cell viability was measured by alamar blue assay. Phase-contrast light microscopy, western blotting, time-lapse video microscopy and analysis of global gene expression by RNA-Seq were used to evaluate target modulation and induction of cell death pathways. Bioluminescence imaging of mice bearing NB xenografts treated with TRD was used to investigate the efficacy of TRD in vivo. Results: Cell survival data showed that TRD is cytotoxic against NB cell lines in vitro (mean IC50 value 100 µM, range 65-135 µM). Phase-contrast and time-lapse video microscopy confirmed the antitumor effects of TRD. Western blot analyses identified that TRD induced target modulation and an effective apoptotic cascade, resulting in PARP cleavage. Gene expression analyses and signaling pathway activation scores indicated alterations in the Notch, MAPK and IL-10 signaling pathways. Xenograft studies further validated the in vivo activity of TRD with decreased tumor burden in treated mice and a measurable improvement in survival. Conclusions: Our study provides key pre-clinical data on the activity and mechanism of action of TRD against NB. The findings support the rationale for further evaluation of TRD for the treatment of relapsed/refractory NB patients in an early phase clinical trial.