Farnesyltransferase inhibitor FTI-277 prevents autocrine growth stimulation of neuroblastoma by BDNF

Purpose Autocrine growth stimulation by IGF-II and BDNF is frequently observed in neuroblastoma. The signals of the receptors of these growth factors are transduced to the nucleus via the Ras-MAP-kinase pathway where they induce proliferation. Inactivation of Ras-proteins by farnesyltransferase inhibitors such as FTI-277 disrupts growth stimulation of ras-transformed cells. We investigated whether FTI-277 is also active against tumor cells with constitutively activated growth factor receptors but lacking ras-mutations.