Abstract 4797: A novel Diiminoquinone targets colorectal cancer stem cells

5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu) remains the standard chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer, but drug resistance and unpredictable cardiotoxicity limit its effectiveness. The high recurrence rates and common resistance are thought to be due to a population of self-renewing cancer stem cells (CSCs). In this study, we synthesized four novel heterocyclic compounds that are similar in structure with quinones and tested their anticancer activity against HCT116 human colon cancer cells in 2D monolayer and 3D sphere cultures. In 2D, all compounds caused significant inhibition of colon cancer cell viability at concentrations non-cytotoxic to normal human FHs74Int intestinal cell lines. In 3D cultures, these heterocycles eradicated the self-renewal ability of the highly resistant cancer stem cells and inhibited colon sphere formation in first generation (G1), as well as subsequent generations. This study represents the first documentation of the activity of these novel heterocyclic compounds, particularly compound 6a, abbreviated as DIQ-3, which we propose to be an effective treatment strategy to prevent colon cancer recurrence by targeting colorectal CSCs. Our findings provide the basis for suggesting these non-toxic and stable compounds for additional testing against cancer. Citation Format: Alissar Monzer, Nayri Jabotian, Jie S. Zhu, Mark J. Kurth, Wassim Abou Kheir, Makhlouf Haddadin, Hala Gali-Muhtasib. A novel Diiminoquinone targets colorectal cancer stem cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4797.