The Anti-HER3 mAb Seribantumab Effectively Inhibits Growth of Patient-Derived and Isogenic Cell Line and Xenograft Models with Oncogenic Fusions.

PURPOSE

Oncogenic fusions involving the () gene are found in approximately 0.2% of cancers of diverse histologies. The resulting chimeric NRG1 proteins bind predominantly to HER3, leading to HER3-HER2 dimerization and activation of downstream growth and survival pathways. HER3 is, therefore, a rational target for therapy in NRG1 fusion-driven cancers.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

We developed novel patient-derived and isogenic models of NRG1-rearranged cancers and examined the effect of the anti-HER3 antibody, seribantumab, on growth and activation of signaling networks and .

RESULTS

Seribantumab inhibited NRG1-stimulated growth of MCF-7 cells and growth of patient-derived breast (MDA-MB-175-VII, fusion) and lung (LUAD-0061AS3, fusion) cancer cells harboring fusions or amplification (HCC-95). In addition, seribantumab inhibited growth of isogenic HBEC cells expressing a fusion (HBECp53-CD74-NRG1) and induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-175-VII and LUAD-0061AS3 cells. Induction of proapoptotic proteins and reduced expression of the cell-cycle regulator, cyclin D1, were observed in seribantumab-treated cells. Treatment of MDA-MB-175-VII, LUAD-0061AS3, and HBECp53-CD74-NRG1 cells with seribantumab reduced phosphorylation of EGFR, HER2, HER3, HER4, and known downstream signaling molecules, such as AKT and ERK1/2. Significantly, administration of seribantumab to mice bearing LUAD-0061AS3 patient-derived xenograft (PDX) and OV-10-0050 (ovarian cancer with fusion) PDX tumors induced regression of tumors by 50%-100%. Afatinib was much less effective at blocking tumor growth.

CONCLUSIONS

Seribantumab treatment blocked activation of the four ERBB family members and of downstream signaling, leading to inhibition of fusion-dependent tumorigenesis and in breast, lung, and ovarian patient-derived cancer models.