Vemurafenib may overcome TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) resistance in anaplastic thyroid cancer cells

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is rare but with poor prognosis. TRAIL can selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells; however, resistance is quite common. Aim of our study was to evaluate TRAIL-induced apoptosis in ATC-derived cell lines, in vitro and in vivo, and the effect of combination with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) selective for BRAF (vemurafenib) or Akt (MK-2206). Four ATC-derived cell lines were used: C643, CAL62, HTh7, with...