Intratumoral modeling of gefitinib pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in an orthotopic mouse model of glioblastoma

Cancer Res. 2013 Aug 15;73(16):5242-52. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-0690. Epub 2013 Jun 24.

Abstract

Like many solid tumors, glioblastomas are characterized by intratumoral biologic heterogeneity that may contribute to a variable distribution of drugs and their associated pharmacodynamic responses, such that the standard pharmacokinetic approaches based on analysis of whole-tumor homogenates may be inaccurate. To address this aspect of tumor pharmacology, we analyzed intratumoral pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic characteristics of the EGFR inhibitor gefitinib in mice with intracerebral tumors and developed corresponding mathematical models. Following a single oral dose of gefitinib (50 or 150 mg/kg), tumors were processed at selected times according to a novel brain tumor sectioning protocol that generated serial samples to measure gefitinib concentrations, phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (pERK), and immunohistochemistry in 4 different regions of tumors. Notably, we observed up to 3-fold variations in intratumoral concentrations of gefitinib, but only up to half this variability in pERK levels. As we observed a similar degree of variation in the immunohistochemical index termed the microvessel pericyte index (MPI), a measure of permeability in the blood-brain barrier, we used MPI in a hybrid physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model to account for regional changes in drug distribution that were observed. Subsequently, the PBPK models were linked to a pharmacodynamic model that could account for the variability observed in pERK levels. Together, our tumor sectioning protocol enabled integration of the intratumoral pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic variability of gefitinib and immunohistochemical indices followed by the construction of a predictive PBPK/pharmacodynamic model. These types of models offer a mechanistic basis to understand tumor heterogeneity as it impacts the activity of anticancer drugs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacokinetics*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Blood-Brain Barrier / metabolism
  • Brain Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Brain Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Capillary Permeability / physiology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / metabolism
  • Gefitinib
  • Glioblastoma / drug therapy*
  • Glioblastoma / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Phosphorylation / drug effects
  • Quinazolines / pharmacokinetics*
  • Quinazolines / pharmacology*
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Quinazolines
  • Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases
  • Gefitinib