Synergy between 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine and paclitaxel in human pharynx FaDu cells.

PURPOSE: We recently demonstrated simultaneous targeting of telomere and telomerase as a novel cancer therapeutic approach, and that telomerase inhibitors such as 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT) significantly enhanced the antitumor activity of paclitaxel, which causes telomere erosion, in telomerase-positive human pharynx FaDu tumors in vitro and in vivo. The present study evaluated the synergy between AZT and paclitaxel to identify optimal combinations for future clinical evaluation.
METHODS: FaDu cells were incubated with or without AZT for 24 h and then treated with AZT with or without paclitaxel for an additional 48 h. Under these conditions, single agent paclitaxel produced a 60% maximum reduction of cell number (IC50) was 7.3 nM), and single agent AZT produced a 97% reduction (IC50 was 5.6 microM). Synergy was evaluated using fixed-concentration and fixed-ratio methods, and data were analyzed by the combination index method.
RESULTS: The results indicate a concentration-dependent synergy between the two drugs; the synergy was higher for combinations containing greater paclitaxel-to-AZT concentration ratios and increased with the level of drug effect. For example, in combinations containing 1 microM AZT, synergy was 1.3-fold at the 20% effect level and 3.1-fold at the 60% effect level. Because the major antitumor activity, determined by comparing the posttreatment cell number to the pretreatment cell number, was antiproliferation at the 20% effect level and cell kill at the 60% effect level, our results suggest that AZT mainly enhances the cell kill effect of paclitaxel.
CONCLUSION: In summary, the present study demonstrates a synergistic interaction between paclitaxel and AZT and supports a combination using a low and nontoxic AZT dose in combination with a therapeutically active dose of paclitaxel.