Variability in functional p53 reactivation by Prima-1Met/APR-246 in Ewing sarcoma. Homo sapiens

Though p53 mutations are rare in Ewing sarcoma, there is a strong indication that p53-mutant tumors form a particularly bad prognosis group. As such, novel treatment strategies are warranted that would specifically target and eradicate tumor cells containing mutant-p53 in this subset of ES patients. PRIMA-1Met/APR-246 is a small organic molecule which has been shown to restore tumor suppressor function primarily to mutant p53 and to also induce cell death in various cancer cell types. Overall design: We analyzed the apoptosis inducibility on Ewing sarcoma cells harbouring different p53 mutations upon exposure to APR-246. Gene expression profiles of three STA-ET-7 cell lines established from the same patient at different stages of the disease was assessed by microarray analysis as these cell lines responded variably to APR-246.