MetaStat, Inc. (OTCQB: MTST), a precision medicine company developing novel anti-metastatic medications for patients with aggressive cancer, presented positive results from preclinical studies showing treatment with MAPKAPK2 kinase inhibitors reverse MENA-driven aggressive tumor cell phenotypes and significantly reduce metastasis at the Cancer Dormancy and Residual Disease meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Montreal, Quebec on June 20, 2018.
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“Until recently, the MENA pathway was considered to be an undruggable target. These results show inhibition of the MENA pathway and reversal of MENA-dependent phenotypes are possible by targeting MAPKAPK2,” stated Douglas A. Hamilton, MetaStat’s President and CEO. “We are leveraging a proven and highly successful therapeutic strategy in oncology to develop proprietary first-in-class MAPKAPK2 kinase inhibitors.”
MetaStat reported MENA-induced fibronectin remodeling, tumor cell adhesion and invasion were reversed to MENA-null levels when treated with MAPKAPK2 inhibitors in vitro. MAPKAPK2 inhibitor monotherapy reduced lung metastasis similar to the previously published effects of MENA deficiency in the MMTV-PyMT murine model. Significant decreases in the number of animals with any detectable circulating tumor cells (CTCs) following treatment were reported in the MDA-MB-231 human metastatic triple negative breast cancer model. Further, in contrast to paclitaxel monotherapy, treatment with the MAPKAPK2 inhibitor alone or in combination with paclitaxel significantly reduced the growth rate of MMTV-PyMT primary tumors and the development of lung metastasis.