The integration of genomic testing into clinical care enables the use of individualized approaches to the management of rare diseases. We describe the use of belzutifan, a potent and selective small-molecule inhibitor of the protein hypoxia-inducible factor 2α (HIF2α), in a patient with polycythemia and multiple paragangliomas (the Pacak-Zhuang syndrome). The syndrome was caused in this patient by somatic mosaicism for an activating mutation in . Treatment with belzutifan led to a rapid and sustained tumor response along with resolution of hypertension, headaches, and long-standing polycythemia. This case shows the application of a targeted therapy for the treatment of a patient with a rare tumor-predisposition syndrome. (Funded by the Morin Family Fund for Pediatric Cancer and Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.).
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2110051 | DOI Listing |
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare but aggressive neuroendocrine skin cancer with limited treatment options, often associated with Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) and marked by hypoxic tumor microenvironments that promote resistance to therapies. Belzutifan, an FDA-approved hypoxia-inducible factor-2α (HIF-2α) inhibitor, has shown promise in inhibiting tumor growth; however, its clinical efficacy is hindered by its low solubility, rapid clearance, and limited bioavailability. In this study, we present a strategy using porous silicon (pSi) microparticles and nanoparticles as carriers for the sustained delivery of benzoate to MCC cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Pharmacol
October 2024
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.
Belzutifan (Welireg, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA) is an oral, potent hypoxia-inducible factor-2α inhibitor, recently approved in the United States for the treatment of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease-associated renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and other VHL disease-associated neoplasms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Rev Urol
November 2024
Department of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 75390, USA.
The distinct pathological and molecular features of kidney cancer in adaptation to oxygen homeostasis render this malignancy an attractive model for investigating hypoxia signalling and potentially developing potent targeted therapies. Hypoxia signalling has a pivotal role in kidney cancer, particularly within the most prevalent subtype, known as renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Hypoxia promotes various crucial pathological processes, such as hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) activation, angiogenesis, proliferation, metabolic reprogramming and drug resistance, all of which contribute to kidney cancer development, growth or metastasis formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCPT Pharmacometrics Syst Pharmacol
October 2023
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA.
Belzutifan (Welireg, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA) is an oral, potent inhibitor of hypoxia-inducible factor 2α, approved for the treatment of certain patients with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease-associated renal cell carcinoma (RCC), central nervous system hemangioblastomas, and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFN Engl J Med
November 2021
From the Departments of Pediatric Oncology (J.K., K.V.H., J.A.P., C.M.C., A.I., C.B.W., K.A.J., S.G.D.) and Medical Oncology (W.G.K.), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, the Divisions of Hematology and Oncology (J.K., J.A.P., M.M.H., K.A.J., S.G.D.) and Endocrinology (A.J.W.) and the Departments of Surgery (B.R.W.), Pathology (S.O.V.), and Radiology (S.D.V.), Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research and the Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children's Hospital (J.A.M., J.L.) - all in Boston; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD (W.G.K.); and Merck, Kenilworth, NJ (R.F.P., N.J.Z.).
The integration of genomic testing into clinical care enables the use of individualized approaches to the management of rare diseases. We describe the use of belzutifan, a potent and selective small-molecule inhibitor of the protein hypoxia-inducible factor 2α (HIF2α), in a patient with polycythemia and multiple paragangliomas (the Pacak-Zhuang syndrome). The syndrome was caused in this patient by somatic mosaicism for an activating mutation in .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!