Trolox Improves the Sensitivity of Multiple Myeloma to Arsenic Trioxide in Vitro and In Vivo.

Abstract 4920

Arsenic trioxide (ATO) induces apoptosis and promotes differentiation of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) cells, but has less activity in other types of cancers. One factor that may impede ATO success outside of APL is its toxicity profile, which limits in vivo concentrations and therefore, therapeutic benefit. We have reported that trolox, an analogue of alpha tocopherol, can augment ATO sensitivity in a variety of malignant cells, while protecting non-malignant cells from ATO toxicity. In this current study, we have focused on Multiple Myeloma (MM), a plasma cell malignancy that often shows resistance to apoptosis, drug inhibition and remains incurable despite tremendous recent advances. Although ATO has activity against MM cells in vitro, clinical trials of ATO, given as a solo agent, in MM have shown limited promise. To see if the addition of trolox could augment ATO toxicity, a panel of human myeloma cell lines (HMCLs, n=9) representing the genetic diversity seen in this disease, were treated with increasing concentration of ATO with and without 100uM trolox. Cell growth was assessed by MTT viability assays and virtually all cell lines were sensitive to varying doses of ATO. Four cell lines (U266, KMS11, MM1R, MM1S) showed profound inhibition of cell growth with very low concentrations of ATO (<1uM). Trolox (100uM) alone had no effect on cell growth, but in concert with ATO further decreased cell growth by up to 50% as compared to the same dose of ATO alone in virtually all cell lines. To further elucidate the mechanism of growth inhibition, annexin V assays were performed by flow cytometry to measure apoptosis. In all cell lines (n=9), a clear increase in the apoptotic fraction was noted when trolox was added to varying doses of arsenic. To test whether oxidative stress plays a role in ATO-mediated apoptosis of myeloma cells, we looked at the induction of a stress response protein (HO-1), a marker of oxidative stress induced by ATO. Western blot analysis revealed that in all myeloma cells tested, HO-1 was dramatically and quickly induced by ATO and further induced by the addition of trolox, indicating a pro-oxidant activity of trolox in the malignant cells. While the mechanism of trolox enhancement of ATO function remains largely unknown, intracellular concentrations of ATO in MM cells, as measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, suggest that trolox does not work by augmenting ATO import or intracellular accumulation.

To test the efficacy of ATO with trolox in vivo, we used a novel transgenic mouse model of MM that has been shown to faithfully mimic the human disease and its response to treatment (Chesi et al, Cancer Cell 2008 Feb;13(2):167-80). We first treated MM afflicted mice with a low dose of ATO (5.0mg/kg) and Trolox (50mg/kg) to assess for toxicity and tolerability. This dose was well tolerated in all mice when given for 10 days with no obvious toxic effects. Serum protein electrophoresis performed at the end of the 10 day treatment period revealed that even at this low starting dose, one of three mice showed a 30% reduction in its paraprotein peak, while the others remained stable. Further studies with higher ATO concentrations in the same mouse model are underway. In conclusion, these data support the role of ATO plus Trolox, as a promising anti-myeloma therapy.