ArticlePloS one2015
Efavirenz Has the Highest Anti-Proliferative Effect of Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors against Pancreatic Cancer Cells.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of Protease Inhibitors on HIV-Associated Kaposi Sarcoma Incidence: A Systematic Review.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2018Pooled it
- The therapeutic potential of transposable element activity modulation.EMBO molecular medicine · 2026Review
- Article
- Exploring Potential for Repurposing Antiretroviral Drugs Etravirine and Efavirenz in Prostate and Bladder Cancer.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Approaches to repurposing reverse transcriptase antivirals in cancer.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2025Review
- Personalized prediction of anticancer potential of non-oncology drugs through learning from genome derived molecular pathways.NPJ precision oncology · 2025Article
- Drug repurposing screen targeting PARP identifies cytotoxic activity of efavirenz in high-grade serous ovarian cancer.Molecular therapy. Oncology · 2024Article
- Antiretroviral Drugs Impact Autophagy: Opportunities for Drug Repurposing.Frontiers in bioscience (Landmark edition) · 2024Review
- Exploring Darunavir, Rilpivirine and Etravirine as Potential Therapies for Bladder Cancer: Efficacy and Synergistic Effects.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- Combination of metformin/efavirenz/fluoxetine exhibits profound anticancer activity via a cancer cell-specific ROS amplification.Cancer biology & therapy · 2023Article
- Comparison of Efavirenz and Doravirine Developmental Toxicity in an Embryo Animal Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Article
- Evolution of Antiretroviral Drug Rilpivirine and Approach to Oncology.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Review
- Efavirenz: History, Development and Future.Biomolecules · 2022Review
- An EpigeneticInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- CombinedPharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Combination of Antiretroviral Drugs Zidovudine and Efavirenz Impairs Tumor Growths in a Mouse Model of Cancer.Viruses · 2021Article
- Paclitaxel-induced stress granules increaseJournal of biomedical research · 2021Article
- Drug Repurposing, an Attractive Strategy in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment: Preclinical and Clinical Updates.Cancers · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCancer prevention and therapy in HIV-1-infected patients will play an important role in future. The non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) Efavirenz and Nevirapine are cytotoxic against cancer cells in vitro. As other NNRTIs have not been studied so far, all clinically used NNRTIs were tested and the in vitro toxic concentrations were compared to drug levels in patients to predict possible anti-cancer effects in vivo.
methodsCytotoxicity was studied by Annexin-V-APC/7AAD staining and flow cytometry in the pancreatic cancer cell lines BxPC-3 and Panc-1 and confirmed by colony formation assays. The 50% effective cytotoxic concentrations (EC50) were calculated and compared to the blood levels in our patients and published data.
resultsThe in vitro EC50 of the different drugs in the BxPC-3 pancreatic cancer cells were: Efavirenz 31.5 μmol/l (= 9944 ng/ml), Nevirapine 239 μmol/l (= 63,786 ng/ml), Etravirine 89.0 μmol/l (= 38,740 ng/ml), Lersivirine 543 μmol/l (= 168,523 ng/ml), Delavirdine 171 μmol/l (= 78,072 ng/ml), Rilpivirine 24.4 μmol/l (= 8941 ng/ml). As Efavirenz and Rilpivirine had the highest cytotoxic potential and Nevirapine is frequently used in HIV-1 positive patients, the results of these three drugs were further studied in Panc-1 pancreatic cancer cells and confirmed with colony formation assays. 205 patient blood levels of Efavirenz, 127 of Rilpivirine and 31 of Nevirapine were analyzed. The mean blood level of Efavirenz was 3587 ng/ml (range 162-15,363 ng/ml), of Rilpivirine 144 ng/ml (range 0-572 ng/ml) and of Nevirapine 4955 ng/ml (range 1856-8697 ng/ml). Blood levels from our patients and from published data had comparable Efavirenz levels to the in vitro toxic EC50 in about 1 to 5% of all patients.
conclusionAll studied NNRTIs were toxic against cancer cells. A low percentage of patients taking Efavirenz reached in vitro cytotoxic blood levels. It can be speculated that in HIV-1 positive patients having high Efavirenz blood levels pancreatic cancer incidence might be reduced. Efavirenz might be a new option in the treatment of cancer.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.