Liposomal treatment against ACC

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare neoplasm characterised by poor prognosis with only 16-38% of patients surviving more than five years after diagnosis. Studies demonstrate that cytotoxic drugs alone produce low response rates. Further, the administration of chemotherapeutic drugs is often complicated by dose-limiting side-effects. However, liposomal encapsulation can reduce this toxicity based on the modified bio distribution of the drug. This mechanism can be further amplified by active targeting. The aim of active targeting is, among other things, to achieve at best a specific internalization by the tumour cells and thereby an effective intracellular access of liposomally encapsulated drugs.

Recently, Hantel et al. initiated the development of a novel anti-insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1-R)-coupled liposomal therapy for the treatment of endocrine tumours. As adrenocortical tumorigenesis has been reported to depend on IGF signalling, they extended their studies to a preclinical model of ACC. They initiated testing of liposomal preparations in in vitro and in vivo models of ACC. Adrenocortical NCIh295 cells were used for in vitro association studies with different liposomal formulations. The results of their studies show that anti-IGF1-R immunoliposomes could represent a promising therapeutic approach for this tumour entity. Moreover, a combination of mitotane plus liposomally encapsulated cytostatic agents instead of free drugs could also be an interesting novel treatment option for ACC in the future. Hantel et al. (2012) Journal of Endocrinology 213 155-161.

Read the full article at DOI: 10.1530/JOE-11-0427