1. Lenvatinib, an angiogenesis inhibitor targeting VEGFR/FGFR, shows broad antitumor activity in human tumor xenograft models associated with microvessel density and pericyte coverage
- Author
-
Katsuji Nakamura, Tomohiro Matsushima, Akihiko Tsuruoka, Junji Matsui, Yuji Yamamoto, Zoltan Dezso, Kazuki Miyazaki, Fusayo Mimura, Hiroshi Obaishi, Taro Semba, Masayuki Matsukura, Yasuhiro Funahashi, Atsumi Yamaguchi, Toru Haneda, Kenichi Nomoto, Junichi Kamata, Toshiaki Wakabayashi, Makoto Asada, Kentaro Yoshimatsu, Tatsuo Watanabe, Keiko Takahashi, Yoshio Fukuda, Sachi Hoshi, and Osamu Tohyama
- Subjects
Computer Networks and Communications ,Angiogenesis ,VEGFR2 kinase inhibitor ,Microvessel density ,Fibroblast growth factor ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Developmental Neuroscience ,Growth factor receptor ,Pancreatic cancer ,medicine ,Lenvatinib ,Pericyte coverage ,Tube formation ,business.industry ,Research ,Cell Biology ,medicine.disease ,Angiogenesis inhibitor ,FGFR kinase inhibitor ,Neurology ,chemistry ,Immunology ,Cancer research ,business ,Kidney cancer - Abstract
Background Lenvatinib is an oral inhibitor of multiple receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR1-3), fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR1-4), platelet growth factor receptor α (PDGFR α), RET and KIT. Antiangiogenesis activity of lenvatinib in VEGF- and FGF-driven angiogenesis models in both in vitro and in vivo was determined. Roles of tumor vasculature (microvessel density (MVD) and pericyte coverage) as biomarkers for lenvatinib were also examined in this study. Method We evaluated antiangiogenesis activity of lenvatinib against VEGF- and FGF-driven proliferation and tube formation of HUVECs in vitro. Effects of lenvatinib on in vivo angiogenesis, which was enhanced by overexpressed VEGF or FGF in human pancreatic cancer KP-1 cells, were examined in the mouse dorsal air sac assay. We determined antitumor activity of lenvatinib in a broad panel of human tumor xenograft models to test if vascular score, which consisted of high MVD and low pericyte coverage, was associated with sensitivity to lenvatinib treatment. Vascular score was also analyzed using human tumor specimens with 18 different types of human primary tumors. Result Lenvatinib inhibited VEGF- and FGF-driven proliferation and tube formation of HUVECs in vitro. In vivo angiogenesis induced by overexpressed VEGF (KP-1/VEGF transfectants) or FGF (KP-1/FGF transfectants) was significantly suppressed with oral treatments of lenvatinib. Lenvatinib showed significant antitumor activity in KP-1/VEGF and five 5 of 7 different types of human tumor xenograft models at between 1 to 100 mg/kg. We divided 19 human tumor xenograft models into lenvatinib-sensitive (tumor-shrinkage) and relatively resistant (slow-growth) subgroups based on sensitivity to lenvatinib treatments at 100 mg/kg. IHC analysis showed that vascular score was significantly higher in sensitive subgroup than relatively resistant subgroup (p
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF