Novel therapeutic strategy for melanoma based on albendazole and the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib.

ABSTRACT: Although an increasing number of patients benefit from immunotherapy and targeted therapies, melanoma remains incurable with increasing incidence. Drug repositioning and repurposing is an alternative strategy to discover and develop novel anticancer drugs or combined therapeutic regimens. In this study, we demonstrated that albendazole (ABZ), an Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved broad-spectrum antiparasitic agent, significantly inhibits the proliferation of melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo. RNA sequencing and flow cytometry analysis revealed that ABZ arrests melanoma cells at the G2/M phase of the cell cycle and induces cell apoptosis. More importantly, the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib, as a member of the first and only class of highly specific CDK inhibitors approved for canc

SUBMITTER: Zhu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8983746 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature