In vivo antitumor effects of the mTOR inhibitor CCI-779 against human multiple myeloma cells in a xenograft model

In vitro studies indicate the therapeutic potential of mTOR inhibitors in treating multiple myeloma. To provide further support for this potential, we used the rapamycin analog CCI-779 in a myeloma xenograft model. CCI-779, given as 10 intraperitoneal injections, induced significant dose-dependent, antitumor responses against subcutaneous growth of 8226, OPM-2, and U266 cell lines. Effective doses of CCI-779 were associated with modest toxicity, inducing only transient thrombocytopenia and leukopenia. Immunohistochemical studies demonstrated the antitumor responses were associated with inhibited proliferation and angiogenesis, induction of Apoptosis, and reduction in tumor cell size. Although CCI-779-mediated inhibition of the p70 mTOR substrate was equal in 8226 and OPM-2 tumor nodules, OPM-2 tumor growth was considerably more sensitive to inhibition of proliferation, angiogenesis, and induction of Apoptosis. Furthermore, the OPM-2 tumors from treated mice were more likely to show down-regulated expression of cyclin D1 and c-Myc and up-regulated p27 expression. Because earlier work suggested heightened Akt activity in OPM-2 tumors might induce hypersensitivity to mTOR inhibition, we directly tested this by stably transfecting a constitutively active Akt allele into U266 cells. The in vivo growth of the latter cells was remarkably more sensitive to CCI-779 than the growth of control U266 cells.