Potential of Diuretic Amiloride in Multiple Myeloma
Posted: Monday, November 20, 2017
The diuretic amiloride may prove to be an alternative treatment option for patients with relapsed multiple myeloma, according to a preclinical study by Norma C. Gutiérrez, MD, PhD, of the Cancer Research Center-IBMCC in Salamanca, Spain, and colleagues published in Clinical Cancer Research. Patients with 17p deletion or TP53 mutations that are resistant to current therapies may particularly benefit from amiloride, they concluded.
Dr. Gutiérrez and colleagues found that amiloride disrupted alternative splicing, which was associated with inhibition of myeloma cell viability in both ex vivo and in vitro settings. The amiloride affected the production of p53 protein in cells with both normal and faulty versions of the TP53 gene but demonstrated anticancer activity either way. The drug did not seem to cause systemic toxicity in the treated mice, noted the investigators.
The drug, typically used to treat high blood pressure, edema, or cirrhosis, demonstrated antimyeloma activity, leading researchers to consider it as an alternative treatment for patients with relapsed multiple myeloma, especially those with resistant 17p and TP53 mutations. Amiloride worked synergistically with other anticancer therapies, including dexamethasone, melphalan, lenalidomide, and pomalidomide.
