Jain S, Cohen J, Ward MM, Kornhauser N, Chuang E, Cigler T, Moore A, Donovan D, Lam C, Cobham MV, Schneider S, Hurtado Rúa SM, Benkert S, Mathijsen Greenwood C, Zelkowitz R, Warren JD, Lane ME, Mittal V, Rafii S, Vahdat LT. Tetrathiomolybdate-associated copper depletion decreases circulating endothelial progenitor cells in women with breast cancer at high risk of relapse.
Ann Oncol 2013;
24:1491-8. [PMID:
23406736 DOI:
10.1093/annonc/mds654]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are critical for metastatic progression. This study explores the effect of tetrathiomolybdate (TM), an anti-angiogenic copper chelator, on EPCs in patients at high risk for breast cancer recurrence.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
This phase 2 study enrolled breast cancer patients with stage 3 and stage 4 without evidence of disease (NED), and stage 2 if triple-negative. TM 100 mg orally was administered to maintain ceruloplasmin <17 mg/dl for 2 years or until relapse. The primary end point was change in EPCs.
RESULTS
Forty patients (28 stage 2/3, 12 stage 4 NED) were enrolled. Seventy-five percent patients achieved the copper depletion target by 1 month. Ninety-one percent of triple-negative patients copper-depleted compared with 41% luminal subtypes. In copper-depleted patients only, there was a significant reduction in EPCs/ml by 27 (P = 0.04). Six patients relapsed while on study, of which only one patient had EPCs maintained below baseline. The 10-month relapse-free survival was 85.0% (95% CI 74.6%-96.8%). Only grade 3/4 toxicity was hematologic: neutropenia (3.1% of cycles), febrile neutropenia (0.2%), and anemia (0.2%).
CONCLUSIONS
TM is safe and appears to maintain EPCs below baseline in copper-depleted patients. TM may promote tumor dormancy and ultimately prevent relapse.
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