Bpr6k609: An Aurora Kinase Inhibitor Targeting Small Cell Lung Cancer With Myc Amplification

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for approximately 15% of all lung cancers, leading to ~30,000 deaths each year in the United States. SCLC patients often present with metastasis at time of diagnosis, excluding surgery as a treatment option. While patients show high response rate to standard chemotherapy such as cisplatin/etoposide, they soon develop drug resistance and disease progression. Therefore, new therapeutic strategies are urgently needed for SCLC. BPR6K609S0 is a novel Aurora kinase inhibitor which has been designed to inhibit the kinase activity of Aurora A, and induces proteasome-mediated degradation of MYC. The BPR6K609S0 active molecule provokes cell apoptosis and inhibits proliferation of several SCLC cell lines with IC50 60 % tumor regression in a NCI-H446 xenograft mouse model. In addition, BPR6K609 further reduces tumor progression in NCI-H446 xenograft mice pre-treated with LY3295668, an Aurora A-selective inhibitor which is currently under clinical investigation. These results support the clinical potential of BRP6K609S0 for the treatment of SCLC. Citation Format: Ya-Hui Chi, Chun-Ping Chang, Yi-Yu Ke, Wen-Hsing Lin, Wan-Ping Wang, Chia-Hua Tsai, Yen-Ting Chen, Yu-Jie Su, Ming-Chun Hung, Zhong-Wei Wu, Mine-Hsine Wu, Teng-Kuang Yeh, Ching-Ping Chen, Jen-Shin Song, Chiung-Tong Chen, Chuan Shih. BPR6K609: An Aurora kinase inhibitor targeting small cell lung cancer with MYC amplification [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 1937.