Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34960665›Full record

ArticleViruses2021

Combination of Antiretroviral Drugs Zidovudine and Efavirenz Impairs Tumor Growths in a Mouse Model of Cancer.

Marcel A Schneider, Anton A Buzdin, Achim Weber, Pierre-Alain Clavien, Pieter Borger

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Viruses, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
3.3field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Approaches to repurposing reverse transcriptase antivirals in cancer.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. An EpigeneticInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022
    Review
  9. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Marcel A SchneiderLaboratory of the Swiss Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) and Transplantation Center, Department of Surgery, University Hospital Zürich, Raemistrasse 100, CH-8091 Zürich, Switzerland.
Anton A BuzdinMoscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, 141701 Moscow, Russia.ORCID 0000-0001-9866-3424
Achim WeberInstitute for Pathology, University Hospital Zürich, Raemistrasse 100, CH-8091 Zürich, Switzerland.
Pierre-Alain ClavienLaboratory of the Swiss Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) and Transplantation Center, Department of Surgery, University Hospital Zürich, Raemistrasse 100, CH-8091 Zürich, Switzerland.
Pieter BorgerLaboratory of the Swiss Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) and Transplantation Center, Department of Surgery, University Hospital Zürich, Raemistrasse 100, CH-8091 Zürich, Switzerland.
University of Zurich · CHMoscow Institute of Physics and Technology · RU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

LINE1 retrotransposons, which are thought to be the remnants of ancient integrations of retrovirus-like elements, are aberrantly (re)activated in many cancer cells. Due to LINE1-induced alterations in target gene expression and/or chromosomal rearrangements, they may be important drivers of tumorigenesis. Moreover, LINE1 encoded proteins, Open Reading Frame (ORF)1 and ORF2, may have pro-oncogenic potential through inductors of oncogenic transcription factors or inhibitors of cell cycle suppressors. The current study therefore aimed to investigate in vitro and in vivo anti-tumorigenic effects of two well-known antiretroviral drugs, zidovudine, a nucleoside analogue inhibitor of RT (NRTI), and efavirenz, a non-nucleoside RT inhibitor (NNRTI). Our data demonstrate that both drugs in clinically relevant doses significantly reduced the proliferation of murine and human cancer cell lines, as well as growth of tumors in a murine subcutaneous model. Intriguingly, we found that the combination of both zidovudine and efavirenz almost entirely blocked tumorigenesis in vivo. Because both drugs are FDA-approved agents and the combination was very well tolerated in mice, the combination therapy as presented in our paper might be an opportunity to treat colorectal tumors and metastasis to the liver in an inexpensive way.

Indexed as

AlkynesAnimalsAntineoplastic AgentsAnti-Retroviral AgentsBenzoxazinesCell ProliferationColorectal NeoplasmsCyclopropanesDisease Models, AnimalDrug Therapy, CombinationFemaleHumansMiceMice, Inbred C57BLZidovudineAlkynesAntineoplastic AgentsAnti-Retroviral AgentsBenzoxazinesCyclopropanesefavirenzZidovudineantiretroviral drugscancer treatmentcombination therapyefavirenzzidovudine

Identifiers

PMID34960665
PMCPMC8703283
OpenAlexW3217632951

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.