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Blood, 15 October 2005, Vol. 106, No. 8, pp. 2841-2848. Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on July 5, 2005; DOI 10.1182/blood-2005-02-0488.
NEOPLASIA Gefitinib induces myeloid differentiation of acute myeloid leukemiaFrom the Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD; and Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Cure rates for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remain low despite ever-increasing dose intensity of cytotoxic therapy. In an effort to identify novel approaches to AML therapy, we recently reported a new method of chemical screening based on the modulation of a gene expression signature of interest. We applied this approach to the discovery of AML-differentiation-promoting compounds. Among the compounds inducing neutrophilic differentiation was DAPH1 (4,5-dianilinophthalimide), previously reported to inhibit epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase activity. Here we report that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved EGFR inhibitor gefitinib similarly promotes the differentiation of AML cell lines and primary patient-derived AML blasts in vitro. Gefitinib induced differentiation based on morphologic assessment, nitro-blue tetrazolium reduction, cell-surface markers, genome-wide patterns of gene expression, and inhibition of proliferation at clinically achievable doses. Importantly, EGFR expression was not detected in AML cells, indicating that gefitinib functions through a previously unrecognized EGFR-independent mechanism. These studies indicate that clinical trials testing the efficacy of gefitinib in patients with AML are warranted. (Blood. 2005;106: 2841-2848)
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