Cells expressing CYP2W1 suffer rapid loss of viability following treatment with ICT2705 and ICT2706, whereas the CYP2W1-positive human colon cancer xenografts display arrested growth in the mice treated with ICT2706.
Here, the expression and gene methylation of CYP2W1 were analyzed in human colon carcinoma cell lines, colon tumors and in corresponding normal colon tissue.
This information thus underline the colon cancer specificity of CYP2W1 enzyme expression and has implications for the development of anti-colon cancer therapies based on CYP2W1 as a drug target, since 2W1-dependent bioactivation of prodrugs for CYP2W1 will not take place in normal adrenal tissue or other non-transformed tissues.
Together, these results suggest the possibility of using CYP2W1 as a drug target in the treatment of colon cancer using antibodies and/or specific CYP2W1 activated prodrugs.