Sci Rep
July 2025
Clin Transl Radiat Oncol
July 2025
Background And Purpose: This study presents a multi-center comparison of in vitro cell survival measurements and RBE calculations following proton irradiations conducted under harmonized experimental conditions across six European institutions participating in the INSPIRE framework.
Materials And Methods: V79-4 cells were irradiated using spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) proton fields of two configurations delivering 6 and 8 Gy with widths of 6 and 4 cm, respectively. Each center adhered to a standardized protocol, utilizing the same phantom design to minimize uncertainties related to sample positioning.
Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging
July 2025
The growing interest and investments in targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) have expanded research efforts across preclinical and clinical domains. Researchers from diverse fields, including nuclear medicine, radiochemistry, radiopharmacy, radiotherapy, biology, and physics, are increasingly focusing on TRT. Despite this, a lack of standardization in preclinical radiobiological studies hinders the evaluation and comparison of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals across laboratories.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the deadliest form of brain cancer, impacting both adults and children, marked by exceptionally high morbidity and mortality rates, even with current standard treatments such as surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Therefore, there is a pressing need for new therapeutic strategies to improve survival and reduce treatment side effects. In this study, we investigated the effect of HSP90 inhibition in combination with radiotherapy in established and patient-derived glioblastoma cell lines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHere, we present a protocol for guiding tissue preparation and flow cytometric analysis in subcutaneous murine tumor models and secondary lymphoid organs. We describe steps for dissociating tumors, spleens, and lymph nodes to obtain single-cell suspensions. We then detail procedures for immune cell staining and analysis and gating strategies including the use of fluorescence-minus-one controls (FMOs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbout 50% of all cancers carry a mutation in p53 that impairs its tumor suppressor function. The p53 missense mutation p53 (p53 in mice) is a hotspot mutation in various cancer types. Therefore, monoclonal antibodies selectively targeting clinically relevant mutations like p53 could prove immensely value.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment but its efficacy depends on a robust immune response in the tumor. Silencing of the tumor suppressor p53 is common in tumors and can affect the recruitment and activation of different immune cells, leading to immune evasion and poor therapy response. We found that the p53 activating stapled peptide MDM2/MDMX inhibitor Sulanemadlin (ALRN-6924) inhibited p53 wild-type cancer cell growth and .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough stapled α-helical peptides can address challenging targets, their advancement is impeded by poor understandings for making them cell permeable while avoiding off-target toxicities. By synthesizing >350 molecules, we present workflows for identifying stapled peptides against Mdm2(X) with in vivo activity and no off-target effects. Key insights include a clear correlation between lipophilicity and permeability, removal of positive charge to avoid off-target toxicities, judicious anionic residue placement to enhance solubility/behavior, optimization of C-terminal length/helicity to enhance potency, and optimization of staple type/number to avoid polypharmacology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy, affecting nearly 600,000 new patients worldwide. Treatment with the BRAF inhibitor sorafenib partially prolongs progression-free survival in thyroid cancer patients, but fails to improve overall survival. This study examines enhancing sorafenib efficacy by combination therapy with the novel HSP90 inhibitor onalespib.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Res Commun
September 2022
Unlabelled: The tumor suppressor protein p53 is mutated in close to 50% of human tumors and is dysregulated in many others, for instance by silencing or loss of p14. Under steady-state conditions, the two E3 ligases MDM2/MDM4 interact with and inhibit the transcriptional activity of p53. Inhibition of p53-MDM2/4 interaction to reactivate p53 in tumors with wild-type (WT) p53 has therefore been considered a therapeutic strategy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe RON receptor tyrosine kinase is an exceptionally interesting target in oncology and immunology. It is not only overexpressed in a wide variety of tumors but also has been shown to be expressed on myeloid cells associated with tumor infiltration, where it serves to dampen tumour immune responses and reduce the efficacy of anti-CTLA4 therapy. Potent and selective inhibitory antibodies to RON might therefore both inhibit tumor cell growth and stimulate immune rejection of tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis prospective study identifies high-risk groups for recurrence of head and neck cancer by BMI and circulating inflammatory response markers. Head and neck cancer patients from three Swedish hospitals were included ( = 272). Leukocyte and thrombocyte counts, CRP levels, and BMI were measured pre-treatment and post-treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe bone-seeking radiopharmaceutical Xofigo (Radium-223 dichloride) has demonstrated both extended survival and palliative effects in treatment of bone metastases in prostate cancer. The alpha-particle emitter Ra-223, targets regions undergoing active bone remodeling and strongly binds to bone hydroxyapatite (HAp). However, the toxicity mechanism and properties of Ra-223 binding to hydroxyapatite are not fully understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDesign of next-generation therapeutics comes with new challenges and emulates technology and methods to meet them. Characterizing the binding of either natural ligands or therapeutic proteins to cell-surface receptors, for which relevant recombinant versions may not exist, represents one of these challenges. Here we report the characterization of the interaction of five different antibody therapeutics (Trastuzumab, Rituximab, Panitumumab, Pertuzumab, and Cetuximab) with their cognate target receptors using LigandTracer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRational: Cisplatin based cancer therapy is an affordable and effective standard therapy for several solid cancers, including lung, ovarian and head and neck cancers. However, the clinical use of cisplatin is routinely limited by the development of drug resistance and subsequent therapeutic failure. Therefore, methods of circumventing cisplatin resistance have the potential to increase therapeutic efficiency and dramatically increase overall survival.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRational: cMet is abnormally regulated in gastrointestinal cancer, and is associated with increased invasiveness of the disease and poor overall survival. There are indications that targeted therapy against cMet, alone or in combination with additional cancer therapies, can help improve treatment outcome. Thus, in the present study we investigated the therapeutic efficacy of a novel cMet-targeting antibody therapy in gastrointestinal cancer models, and assessed potential augmenting effects in combination with tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) targeted therapy or radiotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOncogenic client-proteins of the chaperone Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) insure unlimited tumor growth and are involved in resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy. The HSP90 inhibitor Onalespib initiates the degradation of oncoproteins, and might also act as a radiosensitizer. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the efficacy of Onalespib in combination with external beam radiotherapy in an in vitro and in vivo approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging
April 2020
Purpose: Lu-DOTATATE targeting the somatostatin receptor (SSTR) is utilized for treatment of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Onalespib, a heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitor, has demonstrated radiosensitizing properties and may thus enhance the effect of Lu-DOTATATE. Consequently, the aim of this study was to assess the potential of Onalespib in combination with Lu-DOTATATE in vivo and to examine the toxicity profiles of the treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF177Lu‑DOTATATE was recently approved for the treatment of somatostatin receptor (SSTR)‑positive neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). However, despite impressive response rates, complete responses are rare. Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitors have been suggested as suitable therapeutic agents for NETs, as well as a potential radiosensitizers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe tumor suppressor p53 is a key mediator of cellular stress and DNA damage response cascades and is activated after exposure to ionizing radiation. Amplifying wild-type p53 expression by targeting negative regulators such as MDM2 in combination with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) may result in increased therapeutic effects. The novel stapled peptide PM2 prevents MDM2 from suppressing wild-type p53, and is thus a promising agent for therapeutic combination with EBRT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRadiotherapy amplifies p53 expression in cancer cells with wild-type (wt) p53. Blocking the negative regulators MDM2 and MDMX stabilizes p53 and may therefore potentiate radiotherapy outcomes. In this study, we investigate the efficacy of the novel anti-MDM2/X stapled peptide PM2 alone and in combination with external gamma radiation and PM2 therapy combined with radiotherapy elicited synergistic therapeutic effects compared with monotherapy in cells with wt p53 in both and assays, whereas these effects did not manifest in p53 cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCD44v6 is overexpressed in a variety of cancers, rendering it a promising target for radio-immunotherapy (RIT). In this study, we have characterized a novel engineered recombinant monoclonal anti-CD44v6 antibody, AbN44v6, and assessed its potential for use in RIT using either 177Lu or 131I as therapeutic radionuclides. In vitro affinity and specificity assays characterized the binding of the antibody labeled with 177Lu, 125I or 131I.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContrast Media Mol Imaging
August 2018
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common and severe cancer with low survival rate in advanced stages. Noninvasive imaging of prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers could provide valuable information for planning and monitoring of the different therapy options. Thus, there is a major interest in development of new tracers towards cancer-specific molecular targets to improve diagnostic imaging and treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Selective tumor targeting strategies based on cell surface molecules enable new personalized diagnosis and treatments, potentially lowering adverse effects and increasing efficacy. Radio-immunotargeting generally relies on a molecule binding to a cancer-specific target. It is therefore important to understand the properties of molecular interactions in their working environment and how to translate these properties measured in vitro into the in vivo molecular imaging situation.
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