Breast Cancer: Targets and Therapy (Feb 2021)
In vitro to Clinical Translation of Combinatorial Effects of Doxorubicin and Abemaciclib in Rb-Positive Triple Negative Breast Cancer: A Systems-Based Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Modeling Approach
Abstract
Brett Fleisher,1 Jovin Lezeau,1 Carolin Werkman,1 Brehanna Jacobs,1 Sihem Ait-Oudhia2 1Center for Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology, Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA; 2Quantitative Pharmacology and Pharmacometrics (QP2), Merck & Co, Inc, Kenilworth, New Jersey, USACorrespondence: Sihem Ait-OudhiaMerck & Co, Inc, Kenilworth, New Jersey, USAEmail [email protected]: Doxorubicin (DOX) and its pegylated liposomal formulation (L_DOX) are the standard of care for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, resistance to DOX often occurs, motivating the search for alternative treatment approaches. The retinoblastoma protein (Rb) is a potential pharmacological target for TNBC treatment since its expression has been associated with resistance to DOX-based therapy.Methods: DOX (0.01– 20 μM) combination with abemaciclib (ABE, 1– 6 μM) was evaluated over 72 hours on Rb-positive (MDA-MB-231) and Rb-negative (MDA-MB-468) TNBC cells. Combination indices (CI) for DOX+ABE were calculated using Compusyn software. The TNBC cell viability time-course and fold-change from the control of phosphorylated-Rb (pRb) protein expression were measured with CCK8-kit and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A cell-based pharmacodynamic (PD) model was developed, where pRb protein dynamics drove cell viability response. Clinical pharmacokinetic (PK) models for DOX, L_DOX, and ABE were developed using data extracted from the literature. After scaling cancer cell growth to clinical TNBC tumor growth, the time-to-tumor progression (TTP) was predicted for human dosing regimens of DOX, ABE, and DOX+ABE.Results: DOX and ABE combinations were synergistic (CI< 1) in MDA-MB-231 and antagonistic (CI> 1) in MDA-MB-468. The maximum inhibitory effects (Imax) for both drugs were set to one. The drug concentrations producing 50% of Imax for DOX and ABE were 0.565 and 2.31 μM (MDA-MB-231) and 0.121 and 1.61 μM (MDA-MB-468). The first-orders rate constants of abemaciclib absorption (ka) and doxorubicin release from L_DOX (kRel) were estimated at 0.31 and 0.013 h− 1. Their linear clearances were 21.7 (ABE) and 32.1 L/h (DOX). The estimated TTP for intravenous DOX (75 mg/m2 every 21 days), intravenous L_DOX (50 mg/m2 every 28 days), and oral ABE (200 mg twice a day) were 125, 31.2, and 8.6 days shorter than drug-free control. The TTP for DOX+ABE and L_DOX+ABE were 312 days and 47.5 days shorter than control, both larger than single-agent DOX, suggesting improved activity with the DOX+ABE combination.Conclusion: The developed translational systems-based PK/PD model provides an in vitro-to-clinic modeling platform for DOX+ABE in TNBC. Although model-based simulations suggest improved outcomes with combination over monotherapy, tumor relapse was not prevented with the combination. Hence, DOX+ABE may not be an effective treatment combination for TNBC.Keywords: phosphorylated retinoblastoma protein, clinical prediction, drug-drug interaction, time-to-tumor Progression, nonlinear mixed effect modeling
