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1 Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale Research Unit 664, Laennec School of Medicine, Lyon, France and 2 Procter and Gamble Pharmaceuticals, Mason, Ohio
Requests for reprints: Philippe Clézardin, Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale Research Unit 664, Laennec School of Medicine Rue G. Paradin, 69372 Lyon cedex 08, France. Phone: 33-4-78-78-57-37; Fax: 33-4-78-77-86-63; E-mail: clezardin{at}lyon.inserm.fr.
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| Introduction |
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| In vitro Antitumor Effects of Bisphosphonates |
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Tumor cell invasion. Tumor cell invasion is intrinsically linked to a localized cell surface proteolytic activity driven by matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), which favors cell detachment from matrix proteins, thereby promoting cell migration. NBPs inhibit breast and prostate cancer cell invasion (2, 3, 68). Bisphosphonates also inhibit the zinc-dependent proteolytic activity of MMPs (2). However, the inhibition of MMP activity only occurs when high concentrations (104 mol/L) of bisphosphonates are used, whereas submicromolar concentrations of NBPs are sufficient to inhibit tumor cell invasion. Thus, NBPs might rather inhibit cell migration. Indeed, alendronate and zoledronate inhibit ovarian and breast cancer cell migration, respectively, by attenuating the geranylgeranylation of RhoA (6, 8), a key player in cell adhesion dynamics that drive cell motility. Zoledronate also inhibits the chemokine CXCL12induced breast cancer cell migration by decreasing the cell surface expression of CXCR4, the receptor for CXCL-12 (6). Therefore, the anti-invasive properties of NBPs may be the result of the inhibition of distinct molecular pathways (the mevalonate and chemokine signaling pathways) that mediate in a coordinated fashion cancer cell invasion. These compounds may eventually also inhibit MMP activity if high local bisphosphonate concentrations are achieved in the tumor microenvironment.
Tumor cell proliferation and survival. Submicromolar concentrations of bisphosphonates that inhibit tumor cell adhesion and invasion do not inhibit tumor cell proliferation (2, 3, 6, 8). Yet, higher bisphosphonate concentrations do reduce proliferation and induce apoptosis of a variety of human cancer cell lines, including breast, prostate, ovarian, melanoma, colon, osteosarcoma, pancreatic, myeloma, and leukemia cells (2, 3, 610). The mechanisms of apoptosis seem to be through the mevalonate pathway for NBPs (2, 3, 10). In addition, pamidronate- or zoledronate-mediated apoptosis in breast and prostate cancer cells is associated with the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into the cytosol, leading to the activation of caspases (2, 3). How does caspase activation by NBPs relate to the mevalonate pathway? Failure of the small GTPase Ras to translocate to the plasma membrane in zoledronate-treated cancer cells has been reported (2, 3, 10). This leads to the inhibition of the downstream Ras/Raf-1/MEK/ERK1-2 mitogenic and pKB/Akt antiapoptotic pathways in these cells, and to the subsequent activation of caspases (2, 5). The antiproliferative effects of NBPs are, however, not always the result of apoptotic cell death. Cell cycle analysis of prostate cancer cells treated with NBPs shows, for example, that pamidronate induces a substantial increase of cell apoptosis, whereas zoledronate is more effective at inducing cell cytostasis (3). Similarly, zoledronate-treated BV173 leukemic cells are arrested in the S phase (10). Thus, antiproliferative mechanisms of action of NBPs may vary according to the cell types and/or the bisphosphonates used. Whatever the mechanisms are, the combination of zoledronate with antineoplastic agents (paclitaxel, docetaxel, doxorubicin, imanitib, dexamethasone) results in synergistic apoptotic effects on tumor cell lines (2, 3, 10, 11).
| Antitumor Effects of Bisphosphonates in Animal Models |
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Animal models of bone metastases caused by carcinoma cells. NBPs reduce the development and progression of osteolytic lesions when breast (2, 3), prostate (2, 3), small-cell lung (15), or neuroblastoma (16) tumor cells are inoculated into immunodeficient animals. Zoledronate also impairs the development and progression of osteoblastic lesions caused by human LuCaP 23.1 prostate cancer cells (12). The formation of osteoblastic lesions is often preceded by a wave of bone resorption, explaining the efficacy of the treatment with zoledronate in LuCaP 23.1bearing mice. Moreover, metastatic animals treated with NBPs experience a decrease in skeletal tumor burden (2, 3, 12, 16). Similarly, zoledronate and ibandronate decrease the formation of spontaneous bone metastases and reduce bone tumor burden in syngeneic mice bearing 4T1/luc mammary tumors (7, 13).
Animal models of osteolytic lesions caused by myeloma cells. When myeloma cells isolated from patients with medullary disease are injected in human bones implanted s.c. into severe combined immunodeficient mice, zoledronate or pamidronate reduces the progression of osteolysis and tumor burden (2, 3). In contrast, these NBPs do not inhibit tumor burden when myeloma cells are derived from patients with extramedullary disease. Similarly, ibandronate inhibits osteolysis in 5TGM1 and ARH-77 murine models of myeloma; however, myeloma cell growth is not confined to bone, thereby masking the inhibitory effect of ibandronate on skeletal tumor burden (2, 3). Conversely, when the growth is restricted to bone, as it is observed in the 5T2MM murine myeloma model, zoledronate reduces the progression of osteolysis and decreases skeletal tumor burden (17).
Animal models of visceral metastases. The effects of NBPs on visceral metastases are difficult to interpret. Minodronate treatment of animals bearing small-cell lung cancer cells inhibits bone metastasis formation, but has no effect on lymph node, lung, and liver metastases (15). Similarly, the administration of ibandronate in animals bearing 4T1/luc mammary tumors inhibits the spontaneous development of osteolytic lesions, whereas lung metastasis formation remains unaffected (13). In sharp contrast, the administration of zoledronate to 4T1/luc-tumor-bearing animals decreases tumor burden in bone, as expected, but also in the liver and lungs (7). Alendronate also inhibits the i.p. dissemination of Caov-3 ovarian cancer cells in vivo (18).
| Indirect Antitumor Effects of Bisphosphonates |
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NBPs also have immunomodulatory effects; they stimulate the expansion of the most abundant population of human 
T cells (V
9V
2 T cells; refs. 3, 19). In addition, the accumulation of mevalonate metabolites in NBP-treated tumor cells renders these cells sensitive to lysis by human V
9V
2 T cells (19). Thus, NBPs could have a pronounced effect on the immune system, which might contribute to their in vivo antitumor activity (Fig. 1). Indeed, a pilot study using pamidronate in lymphoma or multiple myeloma patients has recently shown a significant in vivo expansion of V
9V
2 T cells and an objective tumor response in some of these patients (20).
| Conclusion and Future Directions |
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T cells) in preclinical research (Fig. 1). However, doses of NBPs currently used in clinical trials do not show any convincing antitumor effect. Higher doses or more frequent dosing may be required to achieve clinically meaningful antitumor effects. Therefore, it will be an important task in the future to determine the most effective doses and schedules of NBPs to maximize their in vivo antitumor potential and to take advantage of the observed synergy between NBPs and standard neoplastic agents. | Acknowledgments |
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Grant support: Novartis Pharma AG (Basel, Switzerland), Procter and Gamble Pharmaceuticals (Cincinnati, OH), Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer, and Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer.
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
| References |
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cells recognize endogenous mevalonate metabolites in tumor cells. J Exp Med 2003;197:1638.
T cells for immune therapy of patients with lymphoid malignancies. Blood 2003;102:2006.This article has been cited by other articles:
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