• Ling Cen, Brett L Carlson, Jenny L Pokorny, Ann C Mladek, Patrick T Grogan, Mark A Schroeder, Paul A Decker, S Keith Anderson, Caterina Giannini, Wenting Wu, Karla V Ballman, Gaspar J Kitange, and Jann N Sarkaria.
• Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St. SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
• Neuro-oncology. 2013 Jun 1; 15 (6): 735-46.

BackgroundTemozolomide (TMZ) is important chemotherapy for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), but the optimal dosing schedule is unclear.MethodsThe efficacies of different clinically relevant dosing regimens were compared in a panel of 7 primary GBM xenografts in an intracranial therapy evaluation model.ResultsProtracted TMZ therapy (TMZ daily M-F, 3 wk every 4) provided superior survival to a placebo-treated group in 1 of 4 O(6)-DNA methylguanine-methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter hypermethylated lines (GBM12) and none of the 3 MGMT unmethylated lines, while standard therapy (TMZ daily M-F, 1 wk every 4) provided superior survival to the placebo-treated group in 2 of 3 MGMT unmethylated lines (GBM14 and GBM43) and none of the methylated lines. In comparing GBM12, GBM14, and GBM43 intracranial specimens, both GBM14 and GBM43 mice treated with protracted TMZ had a significant elevation in MGMT levels compared with placebo. Similarly, high MGMT was found in a second model of acquired TMZ resistance in GBM14 flank xenografts, and resistance was reversed in vitro by treatment with the MGMT inhibitor O(6)-benzylguanine, demonstrating a mechanistic link between MGMT overexpression and TMZ resistance in this line. Additionally, in an analysis of gene expression data, comparison of parental and TMZ-resistant GBM14 demonstrated enrichment of functional ontologies for cell cycle control within the S, G2, and M phases of the cell cycle and DNA damage checkpoints.ConclusionsAcross the 7 tumor models studied, there was no consistent difference between protracted and standard TMZ regimens. The efficacy of protracted TMZ regimens may be limited in a subset of MGMT unmethylated tumors by induction of MGMT expression.

39 keywords...

hide…