The company has said that Apoptone induces apoptosis by concomitantly increasing the expression of pro-apoptotic genes such as caspases, that can cause tumor cells to die, and reducing the expression of anti-apoptotic genes such as BCL2, that prevent tumor cell death. Data also shows that Apoptone may increase the susceptibility of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic agents by down-regulating ABCG2, the gene for the multi-drug resistant protein MDR2, also known as the Breast Cancer Resistance Protein (BCRP).
These new findings further validate the activity of Apoptone as a cytotoxic agent for tumor cells and suggest that Apoptone’s mechanism of action appears to be the induction of genes associated with cell death pathways in tumor cells, as opposed to traditional hormone therapies directed at simply interrupting either the synthesis or the signaling of the tumor cell through the androgen or estrogen receptor.