Fluorinated and N-Acryloyl-Modified 3,5-Di[(E)-benzylidene]piperidin-4-one Curcuminoids for the Treatment of Pancreatic Carcinoma.

Pancreatic carcinoma is a cancer disease with high mortality. Thus, new and efficient treatments for this disease are badly needed. Curcumin has previously shown promising effects in pancreatic cancer patients; however, this natural compound suffers from inadequate efficacy and bioavailability, preventing its clinical approval. The synthetic curcuminoid EF24 was developed with activities superior to curcumin against various cancer types. In this study, a series of analogs of EF24 were investigated for anticancer effects on pancreatic carcinoma models. A distinct activity boost was achieved by straightforward N-acrylation of EF24 analogs, in particular, of compounds bearing 3-fluoro-4-methoxybenzylidene, 3,4-difluorobenzylidene, and 4-trifluoromethylbenzylidene moieties, while no improvement was seen for N-acryloyl-modified EF24. Apoptosis induction and suppression of phospho-STAT3 levels were determined, the latter corroborated by docking of active curcuminoids into STAT3. Hence, promising new clues for the development of efficient and superior curcuminoids as valuable treatment options for one of the most lethal cancer diseases were discovered in this study.

Anticancer Activity of Novel Difluorinated Curcumin Analog and Its Inclusion Complex with 2-Hydroxypropyl-ß-Cyclodextrin against Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the primary reason for cancer-related deaths in the US. Genetic mutations, drug resistance, the involvement of multiple signaling pathways, cancer stem cells (CSCs), and desmoplastic stroma, which hinders drug penetrance, contribute to poor chemotherapeutic efficacy. Hence, there is a need to identify novel drugs with improved delivery to improve treatment outcomes. Curcumin is one such compound that can inhibit multiple signaling pathways and CSCs. However, curcumin's clinical applicability for treating PDAC is limited because of its poor solubility in water and metabolic instability. Hence, we developed a difluorinated curcumin (CDF) analog that accumulates selectively in the pancreas and inhibits PDAC growth in vitro and in vivo. In the present work, we developed its 2-hydroxy-propyl-ß-cyclodextrin (HCD) inclusion complex to increase its water solubility and hydrolytic stability. The CDFHCD inclusion complex was characterized by spectroscopic, thermal, and microscopic techniques. The inclusion complex exhibited increased aqueous solubility, hydrolytic stability, and antiproliferative activity compared to parent CDF. Moreover, CDF and CDFHCD inhibited colony and spheroid formation, and induced cell cycle and apoptosis in PDAC cell lines. Hence, CDFHCD self-assembly is an efficient approach to increase water solubility and anticancer therapeutic efficacy, which now warrants advancement towards a clinical proof of concept in PDAC patients.

New 4,5-Diarylimidazol-2-ylidene-iodidogold(I) Complexes with High Activity against Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Cells.

Inspired by the vascular-disrupting agent combretastatin A-4 and recently published anticancer active N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes of Au(I), a series of new iodidogold(I)-NHC complexes was synthesized and characterized. The iodidogold(I) complexes were synthesized by a route involving van Leusen imidazole formation and N-alkylation, followed by complexation with Ag2O, transmetalation with chloro(dimethylsulfide)gold(I) [Au(DMS)Cl], and anion exchange with KI. The target complexes were characterized by IR spectroscopy, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. The structure of 6c was validated via single-crystal X-ray diffraction. A preliminary anticancer screening of the complexes using two esophageal adenocarcinoma cell lines showed promising nanomolar activities for certain iodidogold(I) complexes accompanied with apoptosis induction, as well as c-Myc and cyclin D1 suppression in esophageal adenocarcinoma cells treated with the most promising derivative 6b.

Fosciclopirox suppresses growth of high-grade urothelial cancer by targeting the γ-secretase complex.

Ciclopirox (CPX) is an FDA-approved topical antifungal agent that has demonstrated preclinical anticancer activity in a number of solid and hematologic malignancies. Its clinical utility as an oral anticancer agent, however, is limited by poor oral bioavailability and gastrointestinal toxicity. Fosciclopirox, the phosphoryloxymethyl ester of CPX (Ciclopirox Prodrug, CPX-POM), selectively delivers the active metabolite, CPX, to the entire urinary tract following parenteral administration. We characterized the activity of CPX-POM and its major metabolites in in vitro and in vivo preclinical models of high-grade urothelial cancer. CPX inhibited cell proliferation, clonogenicity and spheroid formation, and increased cell cycle arrest at S and G0/G1 phases. Mechanistically, CPX suppressed activation of Notch signaling. Molecular modeling and cellular thermal shift assays demonstrated CPX binding to γ-secretase complex proteins Presenilin 1 and Nicastrin, which are essential for Notch activation. To establish in vivo preclinical proof of principle, we tested fosciclopirox in the validated N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine (BBN) mouse bladder cancer model. Once-daily intraperitoneal administration of CPX-POM for four weeks at doses of 235 mg/kg and 470 mg/kg significantly decreased bladder weight, a surrogate for tumor volume, and resulted in a migration to lower stage tumors in CPX-POM treated animals. This was coupled with a reduction in the proliferation index. Additionally, there was a reduction in Presenilin 1 and Hes-1 expression in the bladder tissues of CPX-POM treated animals. Following the completion of the first-in-human Phase 1 trial (NCT03348514), the pharmacologic activity of fosciclopirox is currently being characterized in a Phase 1 expansion cohort study of muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients scheduled for cystectomy (NCT04608045) as well as a Phase 2 trial of newly diagnosed and recurrent urothelial cancer patients scheduled for transurethral resection of bladder tumors (NCT04525131).