Targeted chemotherapy overcomes drug resistance in melanoma.

The emergence of drug resistance is a major obstacle for the success of targeted therapy in melanoma. Additionally, conventional chemotherapy has not been effective as drug-resistant cells escape lethal DNA damage effects by inducing growth arrest commonly referred to as cellular dormancy. We present a therapeutic strategy termed "targeted chemotherapy" by depleting protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) or its inhibition using a small molecule inhibitor (1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione [phendione]) in drug-resistant melanoma. Targeted chemotherapy induces the DNA damage response without causing DNA breaks or allowing cellular dormancy. Phendione treatment reduces tumor growth of BRAF-driven melanoma patient-derived xenografts (PDX) and diminishes growth of NRAS-driven melanoma, a cancer with no effective therapy. Remarkably, phendione treatment inhibits the acquisition of resistance to BRAF inhibition in BRAF PDX highlighting its effectiveness in combating the advent of drug resistance.