Drug repurposing identifies a synergistic combination therapy with imatinib mesylate for gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

ABSTRACT: Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is a rare and therefore often neglected disease. Introduction of the kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate radically improved the clinical response of patients with GIST; however, its effects are often short-lived, with GISTs demonstrating a median time-to-progression of approximately two years. Although many investigational drugs, approved first for other cancers, have been subsequently evaluated for the management of GIST, few have greatly affected the overall survival of patients with advanced disease. We employed a novel, focused, drug-repurposing effort for GIST, including imatinib mesylate-resistant GIST, evaluating a large library of FDA-approved drugs regardless of current indication. As a result of the drug-repurposing screen, we identified eight

SUBMITTER: Pessetto ZY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4185217 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature