Abstract 5376: Pleclinical investigation of T-DXd internalization and payload release in HER2 mutant non-small cell lung cancer cells
Authors: Yamasaki Atsushi , Ikuta Misa , Abe Manabu , Deguchi Tsuneo , Kamai Yasuki , Nakamaru Kenji , Agatsuma Toshinori 
Published: June 2022

Introduction: T-DXd (trastuzumab deruxtecan) is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) composed of a humanized anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody conjugated to a DNA topoisomerase I inhibitor, DXd through a linker. Internalization of HER2-T-DXd followed by DXd release is a crucial process for T-DXd to exert its antitumor activity. T-DXd induced robust and durable responses in HER2 mutant metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in DESTINY-Lung01 study, including those with low HER2 expression levels (Li BT, et al. NEJM 2021). One hypothesis of this T-DXd sensitivity of HER2 mutant NSCLC cells involves the potential of enhanced receptor and ADC internalization in these cells (Li BT, et al. Cancer Discov 2020). To examine this possibility further, we investigated the effect of HER2 mutations on T-DXd internalization and DXd release in transgenic cells expressing various HER2 mutants, as well as on T-DXd sensitivity in vivo.

Methods: We established transgenic NCI-H322 cells expressing wild-type (WT) HER2 or various HER2 mutants and evaluated T-DXd internalization in these cells. Antitumor activity of T-DXd was examined in xenograft mouse models of transgenic NCI-H322 cells and compared between WT and each mutant. DXd concentration in tumor was also determined. In addition, in vitro internalization activity and antitumor activity of T-DXd were evaluated using NCI-H1781, the NSCLC cell line harboring an endogenous HER2 mutation (G776delinsVC).

Results: Transgenic NSCLC cells expressing various HER2 mutants showed higher T-DXd internalization than WT HER2 expressing cells. There also was a negative correlation between the surface HER2 expression level and T-DXd internalization among various mutants and WT expressing cells. In xenograft models with transgenic cells, some HER2 mutant models showed higher response to T-DXd than WT HER2 model, with greater than 2-fold increase in G660D, YVMA, G776delinsVC, V777_G778insGSP, and V842I. Tumor DXd concentration was positively correlated with the antitumor activity. In an endogenous HER2 mutant NSCLC cell line (NCI-H1781), T-DXd also showed high internalization activity and potent antitumor activity.

Conclusion: In vitro study with transgenic NSCLC cells suggested that T-DXd internalization in HER2 mutant tumors was more efficient than in WT HER2 tumor. Some of those HER2 mutant cell lines showed increased T-DXd sensitivity and higher payload release in the tumor in vivo, suggesting the enhanced internalization played a role in the mechanism of T-DXd sensitivity in these HER2 mutant transgenic NSCLC cells. Some mutants may be more or less clinically relevant. However, the relationship between the in vitro internalization efficiency and in vivo antitumor activity in each mutant was not consistent among different mutants, thus these results need to be interpreted cautiously.

Citation Format: Atsushi Yamasaki, Misa Ikuta, Manabu Abe, Tsuneo Deguchi, Yasuki Kamai, Kenji Nakamaru, Toshinori Agatsuma. Pleclinical investigation of T-DXd internalization and payload release in HER2 mutant non-small cell lung cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 5376.