Practical strategies for suppressing hypoxia-inducible factor activity in cancer therapy

SummaryThe utility of anti-angiogenic strategies for cancer control is strongly compromised by hypoxia-driven phenotypic changes in cancer cells, which make cancer cells more invasive and more prone to give rise to metastases. A key mediator of this phenotypic shift is the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), which acts directly and indirectly to promote the epidermal–mesenchymal transition, boost cancer invasiveness, increase production of angiogenic factors, and induce chemoresistance. In some cancers, HIF-1 activity is constitutively elevated even in aerobic environments, making the cancer harder to treat and control. Practical strategies for suppressing HIF-1 activation may include the following: inhibiting NF-kappaB activation with salicylic acid and/or silibinin, which should decrease transcription of the HIF-1alpha gene; suppressing translation of HIF-1alpha mRNA with drugs that inhibit mTOR or topoisomerase I; supporting the effective activity of prolyl hydroxylases – which promote proteasomal degradation of HIF-1alpha under aerobic conditions – with antioxidant measures, alpha-ketoglutarate, and possibly dichloroacetate; promoting the O2-independent proteasomal degradation of HIF-1alpha with agents that inhibit the chaperone protein Hsp90; and blocking HIF-1 binding to its DNA response elements with anthracyclines. The utility of various combinations of these strategies should be tested in cancer cell cultures and rodent xenograft models; initial efforts in this regard have yielded encouraging results. Comprehensive strategies for suppressing HIF-1 activity can be expected to complement the efficacy of cancer chemotherapy and of effective anti-angiogenic regimens.