Takis team is happy to announce the publication of the paper "The natural compound fucoidan from New Zealand Undaria pinnatifida synergizes with the ERBB inhibitor lapatinib enhancing melanoma growth inhibition" in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, by Thakur et al on OncoTarget journal.

 Melanoma remains one of the most aggressive and therapy-resistant cancers.   Melanoma relies on the activation of ERBB signaling, specifically of the ERBB3/ERBB2 cascade. Here we show that melanoma tumor growth is inhibited by 60% over controls when treated with lapatinib, a clinically approved inhibitor of ERBB2/EGFR. Importantly, tumor growth is further inhibited to 85% when the natural compound fucoidan from New Zealand U. pinnatifida is integrated into the treatment regimen. Fucoidan not only enhances tumor growth inhibition, it counteracts the morbidity associated with prolonged lapatinib treatment. Fucoidan doubles the cell killing capacity of lapatinib. These effects are associated with a further decrease in AKT and NFκB signaling, two key pathways involved in melanoma cell survival. Importantly, the enhancing cell killing effects of fucoidan can be recapitulated by inhibiting ERBB3 by either a specific shRNA or Rever3mAb reiterating the key roles played by this receptor in melanoma.

This study therefore proposes the use of specific ERBB inhibitors, in combination with fucoidan as a new treatment of melanoma that potentiates the effects of the inhibitors while protecting from their potential side effects.

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Oncotarget Aurisicchio Takis