Novel Erlotinib-Chalcone Hybrids Diminish Resistance in Head and Neck Cancer by Inducing Multiple Cell Death Mechanisms.

In a search for novel therapeutic options for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) generally treated with limited therapeutic success, we synthesized a series of novel erlotinib-chalcone molecular hybrids with 1,2,3-triazole and alkyne linkers and evaluated them for their anticancer activity on Fadu, Detroit 562 and SCC-25 HNSCC cell lines. Time- and dose-dependent cell viability measurements disclosed a significantly increased efficiency of the hybrids compared to the 1:1 combination of erlotinib and a reference chalcone. The clonogenic assay demonstrated that hybrids eradicate HNSCC cells in low micromolar concentrations. Experiments focusing on potential molecular targets indicate that the hybrids trigger the anticancer effect by a complementary mechanism of action that is independent of the canonical targets of their molecular fragments. Confocal microscopic imaging and real-time apoptosis/necrosis detection assay pointed to slightly different cell death mechanisms induced by the most prominent triazole- and alkyne-tethered hybrids ( and , respectively). While featured the lowest IC values on each of the three HNSCC cell lines, in Detroit 562 cells, this hybrid induced necrosis more markedly compared to . The therapeutic potential indicated by the observed anticancer efficacy of our selected hybrid molecules validates the concept of development and justifies further investigation to reveal the underlying mechanism of action.