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

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. 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.