Modulation of drug resistance transporters as a strategy for treating myelodysplastic syndrome.

Resistance to chemotherapy is an obstacle to the successful treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The failure of therapeutic treatment may be due to the development of multidrug resistance (MDR), mechanisms of which include upregulation of membrane-resident transporters which efflux chemotherapeutic drugs from tumor cells, and failure of the cancer cell to undergo apoptosis in response to chemotherapy. Membrane transporter-based drug efflux transporters have been extensively studied, and agents that block drug efflux have been found and investigated. Presence of P-glycoprotein (Pgp, MDR1, ABCB1), a member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family, has been reported to correlate with poor prognosis in AML and MDS. In MDS, Pgp expression increases as the disease progresses. Overexpression of other transporters, such as the multidrug resistance protein (MRP1, ABCC1), and the vault-associated transporter lung resistance protein have been shown as well in both MDS and AML, but their prognostic relevance is not clear. Recently, a novel ABC half-transporter, the breast cancer resistance protein (ABCG2) has been found in approximately 30% of AML cases, and may play a role in resistance to chemotherapy. In clinical trials in MDS, first-generation Pgp blockers, such as cyclosporin-A and verapamil, were minimally effective, non-specific, and toxic. However, another first-generation blocker, quinine, was used in MDS and may specifically benefit MDS patients overexpressing Pgp. A second-generation drug, the non-immunosuppressive cyclosporine analog valspodar (PSC833), was studied in AML and MDS, and was highly toxic, resulting in the need to reduce the dosage of the chemotherapeutic drugs as a result of valspodar reducing the clearance of the chemotherapeutic agents. Third-generation drugs, which are highly specific for Pgp and which seem to have only modest effects on drug clearance, include tariquidar, zosuquidar, laniquidar, and ONT-093. These are all in phase I/II trials and show promise for future treatment.