Preclinical Test of Dacomitinib, an Irreversible EGFR Inhibitor
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Published OnlineFirst May 4, 2015; DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-14-0736 Small Molecule Therapeutics Molecular Cancer Therapeutics Preclinical Test of Dacomitinib, an Irreversible EGFR Inhibitor, Confirms Its Effectiveness for Glioblastoma Cristina Zahonero1, Pilar Aguilera1, Carmen Ramírez-Castillejo1, Marta Pajares1, Maria Victoria Bolos 2, Diana Cantero3, Angel Perez-Nunez~ 3, Aurelio Hernandez-Laín 3, Pilar Sanchez-G omez 1, and Juan Manuel Sepulveda 3 Abstract Glioblastomas (GBM) are devastating tumors in which there of these EGFR-amplified cell lines, with a decrease in the has been little clinical improvement in the last decades. New expression of stem cell–related markers. However, continuous molecularly directed therapies are under development. EGFR administration of the compound was required to maintain the is one of the most promising targets, as this receptor is mutated antitumor effect. The data presented here confirm that daco- and/or overexpressed in nearly half of the GBMs. However, mitinib clearly affects receptor signaling in vivo and that its the results obtained with first-generation tyrosine-kinase strong antitumoral effect is independent of the presence of inhibitors have been disappointing with no clear predictive mutant receptor isoforms although it could be affected by the markers of tumor response. Here, we have tested the antitu- PTEN status (as it is less effective in a PTEN-deleted GBM line). moral efficacy of a second-generation inhibitor, dacomitinib Dacomitinib is being tested in second line for EGFR-amplified (PF299804, Pfizer), that binds in an irreversible way to the GBMs.Wehopethatourresultscouldhelptoselectretro- receptor. Our results confirm that dacomitinib has an effect on spectively molecular determinants of this response and to cell viability, self-renewal, and proliferation in EGFR-ampli- implement future trials with dacomitinib (alone or in com- fied Æ EGFRvIII GBM cells. Moreover, systemic administration bination with other inhibitors) in newly diagnosed GBMs. Mol of dacomitinib strongly impaired the in vivo tumor growth rate Cancer Ther; 14(7); 1548–58. Ó2015 AACR. Introduction stimulation of different pathways such as Ras–Raf–ERK and PI3K– AKT–mTOR (3). However, although first-generation EGFR tyro- Glioblastoma (GBM), or grade IV astrocytoma, is the most sine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as erlotinib and gefitinib have frequent malignant primary brain tumor and one of the most been proven to be active in the treatment of lung cancer, they have aggressive forms of cancer. Current therapy includes surgical produced poor results in glioma patients (4) and were not able to intervention, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy with temozolo- inhibit EGFR signaling in vivo (5). Nevertheless it has been esti- mide. However, median survival after diagnosis is usually just 12 mated that the EGFR gene is amplified in 30% to 40% of GBMs and to 15 months with this standard treatment (1). Therefore, there is nearly 50% of them overexpress the receptor, whereas this alter- a strong medical need to develop new therapeutic strategies for the ation is infrequent in anaplastic astrocytoma or in secondary GBMs management of GBMs. (6–8). Different mechanisms could justify the activation of the Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), also called ErbB1/ EGFR signaling pathway in GBM: overexpression that could pro- HER1, plays an important role in tumor development by stimu- voke a local accumulation and activation of the kinase domain or lating cell proliferation and cell resistance to apoptosis and autop- high expression of EGFR ligands such as TGFa (9). However, it is hagy (2). It also participates in drug and radiotherapy resistance via also known that many GBMs with EGFR amplification also carry mutations in EGFR (10, 11). The most common EGFR mutations 1Neuro-Oncology Unit, Instituto de Salud Carlos III-UFIEC, Madrid, found in GBMs are in-frame deletion of regions in the extracellular Spain. 2Pfizer Oncology, Madrid, Spain. 3Unidad Multidisciplinar de domain like EGFRvIII that is present in 30% to 40% of GBMs with Neurooncología, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain. EGFR amplification (11). This mutated gene, EGFRvIII, encodes for Note: Supplementary data for this article are available at Molecular Cancer a receptor with a constitutively active kinase activity that could Therapeutics Online (http://mct.aacrjournals.org/). produce a distinct set of downstream signals to those associated Corresponding Authors: Juan M. Sepulveda Sanchez, Unidad Multidisciplinar de with wild-type EGFR (12) and that is more tumorigenic in mouse Neurooncología, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, 28041 Madrid, Spain. glioma models (9). However, there is controversy whether the Phone: 34913908003, 34619930271; Fax: 344603310; E-mail: expression of the vIII isoform confers resistance or sensitivity to [email protected]; and Pilar Sanchez-G omez, Neuro- TKIs (9). In contrast, there is a bigger consensus regarding the oncology Unit, Instituto de Salud Carlos III-UFIEC, 28220 Madrid, Spain. Phone: relevance of PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog) status as a 34918223265; 34636539620; Fax: 34918223269; E-mail: [email protected] biomarker for EGFR inhibitors. PTEN activity attenuates AKT doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-14-0736 activation in response to receptor activation and its gene is lost or Ó2015 American Association for Cancer Research. mutated in 40% to50% of gliomas (6–10). AKT phosphorylation is 1548 Mol Cancer Ther; 14(7) July 2015 Downloaded from mct.aacrjournals.org on September 28, 2021. © 2015 American Association for Cancer Research. Published OnlineFirst May 4, 2015; DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-14-0736 Dacomitinib Inhibits Glioblastoma Growth correlated with EGFR amplification (13) and it has been proposed national directives. Heterotopic and orthotopic xenografts were that patients carrying wild-type PTEN tumors or low levels of performed as previously described (22). phosphorylated AKT would have a better outcome in response to TKIs (14, 15). Dacomitinib usage PF299804 (dacomitinib) is a second-generation, oral, irrevers- Dacomitinib (PF-299804), an irreversible anilinoquinazoline fi ible, pan-HER TKI, active in erlotinib and gefitinib-resistant derivative, was a kind gift from P zer. Its structure has been in vitro nonclinical models of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; published previously (23). For the experiments, it was ref. 16). This drug has several advantages over gefitinib and dissolved in DMSO (20 mmol/L) and used as indicated. For erlotinib such as its irreversible action or its ability to target not mouse treatments, dacomitinib was dissolved in 20 mmol/L only EGFR but also HER2 and HER4. Furthermore, this com- sodium lactate (pH 4; 1,5 mg/mL). Mice were administered pound displays improved pharmacokinetic properties, including dacomitinib (15 mg/kg/day, 5 days/week) or sodium lactate. increased bioavailability, half-life, and lower clearance as com- Heterotopic xenografts. For the tumor growth curves assays, treat- pared with the first-generation inhibitors (17). A phase II study ment began when the subcutaneous tumors were noticeable and it comparing dacomitinib with erlotinib as a second-line treatment was maintained for 3 to 4 weeks. Tumors were measured with a in unselected NSCLC patients gave positive results although a caliper twice a week. For short-term treatment, tumors were phase III in the same patient settings did not show any improve- removed 5 days after the beginning of drug administration. ment (18). However, encouraging clinical activity has been dem- onstrated for dacomitinib as initial treatment in patients with Orthotopic xenografts. Lactate or dacomitinib were administered advanced NSCLC carrying EGFR-activating mutations (19). These to mice 2 to 3 weeks after the intracranial injections and were results have reinforced the applicability of dacomitinib for molec- maintained until they were sacrificed. ularly selected patients and now a phase III trial is ongoing for NSCLC tumors. In GBMs, two phase II studies are being carried In vitro assays out in recurrent tumors with EGFR amplification (NCT01520870 Cell viability was assessed by a colorimetric assay (WST-1 and NCT01112527) and dacomitinib has proven to be efficient in reagent; Roche) according to the manufacturer's instruction. Cell some GBM cell lines and U87 xenografts (20, 21). However, more proliferation assays were determined by 2 mg/mL 5-Bromo-20- preclinical data were needed for the development of current and deoxyuridine (BrdUrd; Sigma-Aldrich) incorporation. In both future clinical trials in glioma patients. cases, cells were treated for 3 days before processing. For self- In this study, we test the antitumoral efficacy of dacomitinib in renewal assays, cells were treated with dacomitinib or DMSO for 3 a panel of patient-derived GBM cell lines and xenografts (hetero days and then single cells were plated in fresh medium in the and orthotopic injections) that present the most significant absence of drugs at a density of 2.5 cells/mL. The number of molecular profiles in this tumor. We demonstrate that systemic neurospheres formed was counted 6 days later. administration of dacomitinib efficiently impairs EGFR signaling in vivo and has an effect on tumor growth and survival in EGFR- Quantitative real-time PCR amplified GBM cells, independently of the presence of different RNA was extracted from both frozen pellets of cells or frozen mutant receptor isoforms. Moreover, dacomitinib decreases the tissue sections