Use of NQO1 status as a selective biomarker for oesophageal squamous cell carcinomas with greater sensitivity to 17-AAG.

Background: Oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a major health burden in Sub-Saharan Africa, and novel chemotherapies are urgently required to combat this disease. The heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitor 17-N-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG) has previously been proposed as a possible candidate drug. NADPH quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) is known to increase the potency of 17-AAG, therefore we investigated the effects of 17-AAG in OSCC cell lines in the context of their NQO1 status.

Methods: We used MTT assays to compare the sensitivity of a panel of OSCC cell lines to 17-AAG. Western blotting, and RT-PCR were used to investigate NQO1 protein and mRNA levels, while an RFLP approach was used to investigate the NQO1 C609T SNP.

Results: Expression of NQO1 markedly increased sensitivity to 17-AAG in the OSCC cell lines, while normal fibroblasts, which expressed HSP90 at much lower levels, were more resistant to 17-AAG. In isolation, neither the C609T SNP, nor NQO1 mRNA levels was an accurate predictor of NQO1 protein levels.

Conclusions: Since NQO1 greatly enhances the anti-cancer effects of 17-AAG, this could be used as a selective marker for patients that would benefit most from 17-AAG chemotherapy at low doses. Testing for the presence of the C609T SNP in both alleles could be used as a screen to exclude potentially poor responders to 17-AAG treatment at low dosages.