CDK 4/6 inhibitors sensitize PIK3CA mutant breast cancer to PI3K inhibitors

Cancer Cell. 2014 Jul 14;26(1):136-49. doi: 10.1016/j.ccr.2014.05.020. Epub 2014 Jul 4.

Abstract

Activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway occurs frequently in breast cancer. However, clinical results of single-agent PI3K inhibitors have been modest to date. A combinatorial drug screen on multiple PIK3CA mutant cancers with decreased sensitivity to PI3K inhibitors revealed that combined CDK 4/6-PI3K inhibition synergistically reduces cell viability. Laboratory studies revealed that sensitive cancers suppress RB phosphorylation upon treatment with single-agent PI3K inhibitors but cancers with reduced sensitivity fail to do so. Similarly, patients' tumors that responded to the PI3K inhibitor BYL719 demonstrated suppression of pRB, while nonresponding tumors showed sustained or increased levels of pRB. Importantly, the combination of PI3K and CDK 4/6 inhibitors overcomes intrinsic and adaptive resistance leading to tumor regressions in PIK3CA mutant xenografts.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01219699.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial, Phase I
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / pharmacology*
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Breast Neoplasms / enzymology
  • Breast Neoplasms / genetics
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Class I Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4 / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4 / genetics
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4 / metabolism
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 6 / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 6 / genetics
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 6 / metabolism
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
  • Drug Synergism
  • Female
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Humans
  • MCF-7 Cells
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Mice, SCID
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy
  • Mutation*
  • Phenotype
  • Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / genetics
  • Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / metabolism
  • Phosphatidylinositol Phosphates / metabolism
  • Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors*
  • Phosphorylation
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / administration & dosage
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / metabolism
  • RNA Interference
  • Retinoblastoma Protein / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Time Factors
  • Transfection
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • Phosphatidylinositol Phosphates
  • Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Retinoblastoma Protein
  • Class I Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases
  • PIK3CA protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
  • CDK4 protein, human
  • CDK6 protein, human
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 6

Associated data

  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01219699