KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to assess the combined immunological impact of standard anticancer agents and common non-cancer drugs on cancer and immune cells in oncology.
- Researchers noticed significant immunomodulatory effects of TKIs and statins using a cost-effective miniaturized tumor-immune model.
It has become evident in oncology that the outcome of medical treatment is influenced by the combined effect exerted on colon and lung cancer and immune cells.
Tove Selvin and her team aimed to evaluate the potential immunological effects of 46 standard anticancer agents and 22 commonly administered concomitant non-cancer drugs.
Researchers performed an inclusive analysis employing a miniaturized in vitro model system consisting of fluorescently labeled human colon and lung cancer cell lines cultivated as monocultures and co-cultured with activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The Bliss Independence Model was applied to discern potential antagonistic and synergistic interactions between the drugs and activated immune cells.
The standard anticancer agents, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), exhibited notable effects, standing out as prominent inducers of antagonism and synergy. Among them, Ruxolitinib and dasatinib emerged as antagonistic, displaying the lowest Bliss scores. Conversely, sorafenib synergized with activated PBMCs.
For concomitant drugs, the majority showed neither antagonism nor synergy. Notably, the statins mevastatin and simvastatin synergized with activated PBMCs at all tested drug concentrations in the colon cancer model, presenting a unique and consistent pattern.
The study concluded that the miniaturized tumor-immune model effectively enabled a time and cost-efficient evaluation of a diverse drug panel in an in vitro immuno-oncology setting. This approach identified distinct immunomodulatory effects exerted by TKIs and statins.
The study is sponsored by the Swedish Cancer Society and the Lions Cancer and got open-access funding from Uppsala University
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38444002/
Selvin T, Berglund M, Lenhammar L, et al. (2024).’’ Immuno-oncological effects of standard anticancer agents and commonly used concomitant drugs: an in vitro assessment. BMC Pharmacol Toxicol.’’2024 Mar 5;25(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s40360-024-00746-6. PMID: 38444002; PMCID: PMC10913607.
