APR-246 combined with 3-deazaneplanocin A, panobinostat or temozolomide reduces clonogenicity and induces apoptosis in glioblastoma cells.

Glioblastoma is the most malignant brain tumor and presents high resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy with temozolomide are the only treatments against this tumor. New targeted therapies, including epigenetic modulators such as 3‑deazaneplanocin A (DZ‑Nep; an EZH2 inhibitor) and panobinostat (a histone deacetylase inhibitor) are being tested in vitro, together with temozolomide. The present study combined APR‑246 with DZ‑Nep, panobinostat and teomozolomide in order to explore the possibility of restoring p53 function in mutated cases of glioblastoma. Following the Chou‑Talalay method it was demonstrated that APR‑246 acts in an additive manner together with the other compounds, reducing clonogenicity and inducing apoptosis in glioblastoma cells independently of p53 status.