The combination of reduced MCL-1 and standard chemotherapeutics is tolerable in mice

A common therapeutic strategy to combat human cancer is the use of combinations of drugs, each targeting different cellular processes or vulnerabilities. Recent studies suggest that addition of an MCL-1 inhibitor to such anticancer drug treatments could be an attractive therapeutic strategy. Thus, it is of great interest to understand whether combinations of conventional anticancer drugs with an MCL-1 inhibitor will be tolerable and efficacious. In order to mimic the combination of MCL-1 inhibition with other cancer therapeutics, we treated Mcl-1+/− heterozygous mice, which have a ~50% reduction in MCL-1 protein in their cells, with a broad range of chemotherapeutic drugs. Careful monitoring of treated mice revealed that a wide range of chemotherapeutic drugs had no significant effect on the general well-being of Mcl-1+/− mice with no overt damage to a broad range of tissues, including the haematopoietic compartment, heart, liver and kidney. These results indicate that MCL-1 inhibition may represent a tolerable strategy in cancer therapy, even when combined with select cytotoxic drugs.