Abstract
The anti-tumour activity of CPT-11, a topoisomerase I inhibitor, was evaluated in four human neural-crest-derived paediatric tumour xenografts; one peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumour (pPNET) (SK-N-MC) and three neuroblastomas. Two models, SK-N-MC and IGR-N835, were established in athymic mice from a previously established in vitro cell line. Two new neuroblastoma xenograft models, IGR-NB3 and IGR-NB8, were derived from previously untreated non-metastatic neuroblastomas. They exhibited the classic histological features of immature neuroblastoma along with N-myc amplification, paradiploidy, chromosome 1p deletions and overexpression of the human mdr 1 gene. These tumour markers have been shown to be poor prognostic factors in children treated for neuroblastoma. CPT-11 was tested against advanced stage subcutaneous tumours. CPT-11 was administered i.v. using an intermittent (q4d x 3) and a daily x 5 schedule. The optimal dosage and schedule was 40 mg kg-1 daily for 5 days. At this highest non-toxic dose, CPT-11 induced 100% tumour-free survivors on day 121 in mice bearing the pPNET SK-N-MC xenograft. For the three neuroblastoma xenografts, 38-100% complete tumour regressions were observed with a tumour growth delay from 38 to 42 days, and anti-tumour activity was clearly sustained at a lower dosage (27 mg kg-1 day-1). The efficacy of five anti-cancer drugs commonly used in paediatric oncology or in clinical development was evaluated against SK-N-MC and IGR-N835. The sensitivity of these two xenografts to cyclophosphamide, thiotepa and cisplatin was of the same order of magnitude as that of CPT-11, but they were refractory to etoposide and taxol. In conclusion, CPT-11 demonstrated significant activity against pPNET and neuroblastoma xenografts. Further clinical development of CPT-11 in paediatric oncology is warranted.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vassal, G., Terrier-Lacombe, M., Bissery, M. et al. Therapeutic activity of CPT-11, a DNA-topoisomerase I inhibitor, against peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumour and neuroblastoma xenografts. Br J Cancer 74, 537–545 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1996.398
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1996.398
This article is cited by
-
Antitumor effect of polyphyllin D on liver metastases of neuroblastoma
Pediatric Surgery International (2022)
-
Heterogeneity of neuroblastoma cell identity defined by transcriptional circuitries
Nature Genetics (2017)
-
Fifteen years of irinotecan therapy for pediatric sarcoma: where to next?
Clinical Sarcoma Research (2015)
-
Protracted dosing of the lipophilic camptothecin analogue AR-67 in non-small cell lung cancer xenografts and humans
Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology (2014)
-
Synergistic interactions between camptothecin and EGFR or RAC1 inhibitors and between imatinib and Notch signaling or RAC1 inhibitors in glioblastoma cell lines
Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology (2013)