Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02215.
Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2018 Aug 1;8(8):a031518. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a031518.
KRAS is the most commonly mutated oncogene in human cancer. Most -mutant cancers depend on sustained expression and signaling of KRAS, thus making it a high-priority therapeutic target. Unfortunately, development of direct small molecule inhibitors of KRAS function has been challenging. An alternative therapeutic strategy for -mutant malignancies involves targeting codependent vulnerabilities or synthetic lethal partners that are preferentially essential in the setting of oncogenic KRAS. KRAS activates numerous effector pathways that mediate proliferation and survival signals. Moreover, cancer cells must cope with substantial oncogenic stress conferred by mutant KRAS. These oncogenic signaling pathways and compensatory coping mechanisms of -mutant cancer cells form the basis for synthetic lethal interactions. Here, we review the compendium of previously identified codependencies in -mutant cancers, including the results of numerous functional genetic screens aimed at identifying KRAS synthetic lethal targets. Importantly, many of these vulnerabilities may represent tractable therapeutic opportunities.
KRAS 是人类癌症中最常见的突变致癌基因。大多数 -突变癌症依赖于 KRAS 的持续表达和信号转导,因此使其成为一个高度优先的治疗靶点。不幸的是,开发 KRAS 功能的直接小分子抑制剂一直具有挑战性。针对 -突变恶性肿瘤的另一种治疗策略涉及靶向共依赖性脆弱性或合成致死伙伴,这些脆弱性或伙伴在致癌 KRAS 背景下优先成为必需的。KRAS 激活了许多效应途径,介导增殖和存活信号。此外,癌细胞必须应对由突变 KRAS 赋予的大量致癌应激。这些致癌信号通路和 -突变癌细胞的代偿性应对机制是合成致死相互作用的基础。在这里,我们回顾了 -突变癌症中以前确定的共依赖性综述,包括旨在鉴定 KRAS 合成致死靶标的大量功能遗传筛选的结果。重要的是,这些脆弱性中的许多可能代表可治疗的治疗机会。