Abstract 3015: Tucatinib inhibits creatinine and metformin renal tubule secretion but has no effect on renal function (GFR)
Authors: Topletz-Erickson Ariel R. , Lee Anthony , Mayor JoAl , Rustia Evelyn , Abdulrasool Layth , Walker Luke , Endres Christopher J. 
Published: September 2020

Background: Tucatinib (TUC) is a potent, highly selective investigational HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor in development for treatment of patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer (MBC). In HER2CLIMB (H2C), a pivotal study of patients with HER2+ MBC, a modest transient, reversible increase in serum creatinine (SCr) levels was observed in patients who received TUC. Similarly, in a study with healthy volunteers, SCr increased after 300 mg BID TUC and returned to baseline levels after TUC discontinuation.

Clinically, SCr is used as a biomarker for glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and is routinely measured to monitor for potential renal injury. However, SCr renal elimination also depends on the kidney transporters OCT2 (uptake), MATE1 (efflux) and MATE2-K (efflux). Inhibition of OCT2 and MATE1/2-K has been associated with SCr increases in the absence of kidney damage (e.g., abemaciclib). In vitro assessments and a clinical study were performed to assess the impact of TUC on OCT2 and MATE1/2-K-mediated transport.

Methods: Inhibition of OCT2, MATE1, and MATE2-K-mediated transport by TUC was estimated in transfected MDCK-II cells using creatinine and metformin (MF), a sensitive OCT2 and MATE1/2-K substrate used to quantify transport inhibition in vivo, as probe substrates. Subsequently, a single-arm drug-drug interaction study was performed in 17 healthy volunteers to evaluate the effects of TUC on MF PK. MF (850 mg, PO) was administered in the absence and presence of TUC (300 mg BID, PO). Iohexol was administered to calculate actual GFR (aGFR) in the absence and presence of TUC. Plasma (iohexol, MF and TUC) and urine (MF) samples were collected for PK analysis; drug concentrations were measured using validated LC-MS/MS methods. Serum and urine creatinine levels were also measured.

Results: In MDCK II cells, TUC inhibited creatinine transport by OCT2 (IC50 = 0.107 µM) and MATE1 (IC50 = 0.086 µM) and MF transport by MATE1 (IC50 = 0.340 µM) and MATE2-K (IC50 = 0.135 µM), but not by OCT2 (IC50 = 14.7 µM). Using these IC50 values, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model simulations predicted a 1.16 to 1.35-fold increase of MF exposure in the presence of TUC.

Consistent with the PBPK prediction, in healthy volunteers MF exposure (AUCinf) increased ~1.4-fold and renal clearance decreased from 29.99 L/h to 17.64 L/h in the presence of TUC with no effect on MF Cmax. Iohexol clearance was unaffected in the presence of TUC indicating no change in aGFR. SCr increased in the presence of TUC and returned to baseline 8 days after TUC discontinuation.

Conclusions: Together, these data demonstrate that the observed SCr increase in clinical studies with TUC is due to inhibition of tubular secretion of creatinine via OCT2 and MATE1 and not due to an effect on kidney function. An alternative, non-creatinine-based measure of renal function should be considered for tucatinib.

Citation Format: Ariel R. Topletz-Erickson, Anthony Lee, JoAl Mayor, Evelyn Rustia, Layth Abdulrasool, Luke Walker, Christopher J. Endres. Tucatinib inhibits creatinine and metformin renal tubule secretion but has no effect on renal function (GFR) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 3015.