Abstract 3509: The glutaminase inhibitor CB-839 synergizes with CDK4/6 and PARP inhibitors in pre-clinical tumor models

Many tumor cells utilize the amino acid glutamine to meet the elevated bioenergetic and biosynthetic demands of rapid cell growth. The enzyme glutaminase converts glutamine to glutamate, which is used to fuel the TCA cycle, synthesize amino acids and nucleotides, and balance cellular oxidative stress. We developed CB-839, a potent and orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of glutaminase, that blocks production of glutamate and generation of downstream metabolites glutathione, malate and aspartate. Mice treated with CB-839 had decreased levels of nucleotides in their tumors, likely due to glutamine-derived aspartate being required for nucleotide biosynthesis. Consistent with our finding that CB-839 decreases nucleotide pools, CB-839 treatment delayed cancer cells from either entry into S-phase or progression through S-phase. Based on this observation, the ability of CB-839 to synergize with therapies that block cell cycle progression was tested. CB-839 synergized with the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib in colorectal carcinoma (CRC), triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and ER+ breast cancer cell lines resulting in anti-proliferative activity. The combination of CB-839 with palbociclib also led to decreased cell cycle progression through S-phase and caused an accumulation of cells in G1 as measured by an EdU DNA incorporation assay. In vivo, the combination of CB-839 with palbociclib resulted in enhanced anti-tumor activity in both an ER+ breast cancer and CRC xenograft tumor model. We next investigated whether CB-839 treatment would enhance the anti-tumor effects of DNA repair inhibitors, given the ability of CB-839 treatment to decrease nucleotide pools. CB-839 treatment in combination with the PARP inhibitors niraparib and talazoparib led to synergistic anti-proliferative activity in TNBC, CRC, non-small cell lung carcinoma, ovarian and prostate cancer cells. In vivo, the combination of CB-839 with PARP inhibitors showed enhanced anti-tumor activity compared to single agent treatment in a CRC tumor xenograft model. CB-839 is currently undergoing evaluation for efficacy in the treatment of cancer in several phase I/II clinical trials. These encouraging pre-clinical results support the testing of CB-839 with CDK4/6 or PARP inhibitors in cancer patients. Citation Format: Ethan D. Emberley, Mark Bennett, Jason Chen, Matthew Gross, Tony Huang, Amani Makkouk, Gisele Marguier, Alison Pan, Sandra M. Spurlock, Susanne Steggerda, Francesco Parlati. The glutaminase inhibitor CB-839 synergizes with CDK4/6 and PARP inhibitors in pre-clinical tumor models [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3509.