Cancer

Cell culture and mouse studies suggest inhibiting RXR could help treat melanoma. In a human melanoma cell line, the combination of a tool compound RXR inhibitor and Mekinist trametinib decreased colony formation and viability compared with vehicle. In a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse model of melanoma, the combination of the RXR inhibitor, Tafinlar dabrafenib and Mekinist completely eliminated tumors in three of eight treated animals and increased progression-free survival (PFS) compared with the Tafinlar and Mekinist combination. Next steps include testing undisclosed agents that target drug-resistant tumor cell populations in models of melanoma.

Novartis AG markets Tafinlar, an oral BRAF inhibitor, to treat melanoma, has the drug approved for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and has the compound in Phase I/II and Phase III testing for other solid tumors...