Possible mechanisms of action of clarithromycin and its clinical application as a repurposing drug for treating multiple myeloma.

Possible mechanisms of action of clarithromycin and its clinical application as a repurposing drug for treating multiple myeloma. Ecancermedicalscience. 2020;14:1088 Authors: Takemori N, Ooi HK, Imai G, Hoshino K, Saio M Abstract Clarithromycin (CAM), a semisynthetic macrolide antibiotic, is a widely used antibacterial drug. Recently, the efficacy of CAM as an add-on drug for treating multiple myeloma (MM) has been noted. Its effect on treating MM has been confirmed in combination chemotherapies that include CAM. However, a single treatment of CAM has no efficacy for treating MM. Many myeloma growth factors (MGFs) including interleukin (IL)-6 are known to be closely involved in the development of MM. CAM has been shown to suppress many MGFs, particularly IL-6. The possible mechanisms of action of CAM in treating MM have been suggested to include its immunomodulatory effect, autophagy inhibition, reversibility of drug resistance, steroid-sparing/enhancing effect and suppression of MGFs. In addition, MM is characterised by uncontrolled cell growth of monoclonal immunoglobulin (Ig)-producing neoplastic plasma cells. Large quantities of unfolded or misfolded Ig production may trigger considerable endoplasmic reticulum stress. Thus, MM is originally a fragile neoplasm particularly susceptible to autophagy-, proteasome- and histone deacetylase 6-inhibitors. Taken together, CAM plays an important role in MM treatments through its synergisti...
Source: Ecancermedicalscience - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Ecancermedicalscience Source Type: research