Nifurtimox is a 5-nitrofuran and is used to treat diseases caused by trypanosomes including Chagas disease and sleeping sickness. It is given by mouth and not by injection. Nifurtimox is now in a Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of pediatric neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma. Nifurtimox decreased cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner. Nifurtimox also suppressed basal and TrkB-mediated Akt phosphorylation, and the cytotoxicity of nifurtimox was attenuated by a tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitor (alpha-methyl-tyrosine). Nifurtimox killed catecholaminergic, but not cholinergic, autonomic neurons in culture. In vivo xenograft models showed inhibition of tumor growth with a histologic decrease in proliferation and increase in apoptosis. These results suggest that nifurtimox induces cell death in neuroblastoma . Therefore, further studies are warranted to develop nifurtimox as a promising new treatment for neuroblastoma.
