mTOR mediates a mechanism of resistance to chemotherapy and defines a rational combination strategy to treat KRAS-mutant lung cancer.

Shun-Qing, Liang; Bührer, Elias; Berezowska, Sabina Anna; Marti, Thomas; Xu, Duo; Froment, Laurène; Yang, Haitang; Hall, Sean; Vassella, Erik; Zhang, Yang; Kocher, Gregor; Amrein, Michael Alex; Riether, Carsten; Ochsenbein, Adrian; Schmid, Ralph; Peng, Ren-Wang (2019). mTOR mediates a mechanism of resistance to chemotherapy and defines a rational combination strategy to treat KRAS-mutant lung cancer. Oncogene, 38(5), pp. 622-636. Nature Publishing Group 10.1038/s41388-018-0479-6

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Oncogenic KRAS mutations comprise the largest subset of lung cancer defined by genetic alterations, but in the clinic no targeted therapies are available that effectively control mutational KRAS activation. Consequently, patients with KRAS-driven tumors are routinely treated with cytotoxic chemotherapy, which is often transiently effective owing to development of drug resistance. In this study, we show that hyperactivated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is a characteristic hallmark of KRAS-mutant lung adenocarcinoma after chemotherapy treatment, and that KRAS-mutant lung cancer cells rely on persistent mTOR signaling to resist chemotherapeutic drugs. Coherently, mTOR inhibition circumvents the refractory phenotype and restores sensitivity of resistant KRAS-mutant lung cancer cells to chemotherapy. Importantly, drug combinations of clinically approved mTOR inhibitors and chemotherapy drugs synergize in inhibiting cell proliferation of KRAS-mutant cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, and the efficacy of this combination treatment correlates with the magnitude of mTOR activity induced by chemotherapy alone. These results pinpoint mTOR as a mechanism of resistance to chemotherapy in KRAS-mutant lung cancer and validate a rational and readily translatable strategy that combines mTOR inhibitors with standard chemotherapy to treat KRAS-mutant adenocarcinoma, the most common and deadliest lung cancer subset.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > BioMedical Research (DBMR) > Forschungsbereich Mu50 > Forschungsgruppe Thoraxchirurgie
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gastro-intestinal, Liver and Lung Disorders (DMLL) > Clinic of Thoracic Surgery
04 Faculty of Medicine > Faculty Institutions > Teaching Staff, Faculty of Medicine
08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography
04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > BioMedical Research (DBMR) > DCR Services > Central Animal Facility
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gynaecology, Paediatrics and Endocrinology (DFKE) > Clinic of Paediatric Medicine
04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Pathology > Molecular Pathology
04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > BioMedical Research (DBMR)
04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Pathology > Clinical Pathology
04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Pathology
04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > BioMedical Research (DBMR) > DCR Services > Core Facility Zytometrie-Labor/FACSlab
04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > BioMedical Research (DBMR) > DBMR Forschung Mu35 > Forschungsgruppe Tumor-Immunologie
04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > BioMedical Research (DBMR) > DBMR Forschung Mu35 > Forschungsgruppe Tumor-Immunologie

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Haematology, Oncology, Infectious Diseases, Laboratory Medicine and Hospital Pharmacy (DOLS) > Clinic of Medical Oncology
04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Pathology > Tumour Pathology
09 Interdisciplinary Units > Microscopy Imaging Center (MIC)

Graduate School:

Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB)

UniBE Contributor:

Shun-Qing, Liang, Bührer, Elias, Berezowska, Sabina Anna, Marti, Thomas, Xu, Duo, Froment, Laurène, Yang, Haitang, Hall, Sean, Vassella, Erik, Yang, Zhang (A), Kocher, Gregor, Amrein, Michael Alex, Riether, Carsten, Ochsenbein, Adrian, Schmid, Ralph, Peng, Ren-Wang

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
900 History > 910 Geography & travel
500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology

ISSN:

0950-9232

Publisher:

Nature Publishing Group

Language:

English

Submitter:

Anette van Dorland

Date Deposited:

17 Oct 2018 10:51

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:18

Publisher DOI:

10.1038/s41388-018-0479-6

PubMed ID:

30171261

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.120511

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/120511

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