Imatinib radiosensitises bladder cancer by targeting homologous recombination
Menée in vitro et à l'aide de 92 échantillons tumoraux fixés au formol et inclus en paraffine après prélèvement sur des patients atteints d'un carcinome de la vessie à cellules transitionnelles, cette étude montre que l'Imatinib peut, en ciblant des protéines impliquées dans la recombinaison homologue, sensibiliser les cellules cancéreuses aux rayonnements ionisants
Radiotherapy is a major treatment modality used to treat muscle-invasive bladder cancer, with patient outcomes similar to surgery. However, radioresistance is a significant factor in treatment failure. Cell-free extracts of muscle-invasive bladder tumours are defective in non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ), and this phenotype might be exploited clinically by combining radiotherapy with a radiosensitising drug that targets homologous recombination (HR), thereby sparing normal tissues with intact NHEJ. The response of the HR protein RAD51 to radiation is inhibited by the small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) imatinib. Stable RT112 bladder cancer Ku knockdown (Ku80KD) cells were generated using shRNA technology to mimic the invasive tumour phenotype, and also RAD51 knockdown (RAD51KD) cells to demonstrate imatinib's pathway selectivity. Ku80KD, RAD51KD, non-silencing vector control and parental RT112 cells were treated with radiation in combination with either imatinib or lapatinib, which inhibits NHEJ, and cell survival assessed by clonogenic assay. Drug doses were chosen at approximately IC40 and IC10 (non-toxic) levels. Imatinib radiosensitised Ku80KD cells to a greater extent than RAD51KD or RT112 cells. In contrast, lapatinib radiosensitised RAD51KD and RT112 cells, but not Ku80KD cells. Taken together, our findings suggest a new application for imatinib in concurrent use with radiotherapy to treat muscle-invasive bladder cancer.