Grant: Proof of Principle Program - Phase I

Several cancer drugs elicit a protective response called autophagy (self-eating) that enables cancer cells to survive exposure to the drug. It is anticipated that autophagy inhibitors will increase the efficacy of these drugs but few chemical inhibitors of autophagy exist and most have undesirable pharmacological properties that preclude their use in humans. We have discovered that verteporfin, a drug approved for the photodynamic treatment of age-related macular degeneration, is a potent inhibitor of autophagy. The goal of this proposal is to determine whether verteporfin can enhance the activity of two cancer therapy drugs that activate autophagy in animal models of breast and lung cancer. A successful outcome could lead to new combination therapies for the treatment of a wide variety of cancers.