Abstract 1687: Vandetanib as a potential new treatment for ER negative breast cancers
Authors: Marangoni Elisabetta , Hatem Rana , Labiod Dalila , Chateau-Joubert Sophie , El Botty Rania , Servely Jean-Luc , De Plater Ludmilla , Bièche Ivan 
Published: August 2015

Introduction: Recent studies have shown that the receptor tyrosine kinase RET is involved in the biology of ER positive breast cancers and in the response to endocrine treatment, but its role in ER negative tumors is unknown. Here we investigated the expression of RET in BC patients tumors and patient-derived xenografts (PDX) and evaluated the therapeutic potential of Vandetanib in ER negative BC PDX.

Methods: RET mRNA expression was analyzed in BC of 446 patients and 57 PDX by RT-PCR analysis. The activity of Vandetanib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting RET, EGFR and VEGFR2, was tested in three PDX of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and one PDX of HER2+ BC with different levels of RET expression. Protein expression of P-RET, RET, EGFR, P-EGFR and c-KIT were determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Analyses of PI3K and MAPK pathways and angiogenesis were performed by IHC and RT-PCR in both untreated and Vandetanib-treated tumors.

Results: In both clinical samples and PDX, elevated levels of RET were found in ER+ and HER2+ tumors, and in a subgroup of TNBC tumors. In the HBCx5 (HER2+) and HBCx24 (TNBC) PDX, both with RET over-expression, treatment by Vandetanib resulted in tumor growth inhibition (TGI) of 90% and 98%, respectively. In both models, tumor regressions were observed in 50% of xenografts. The effect of Vandetanib was associated to a marked inhibition of RET phosphorylation. To determine whether the lack of RET over-expression was associate to Vandetanib resistance, we treated two additional TNBC PDX with low and no expression of RET: HBCx4B and HBCx14. In these models, treatment by Vandetanib still inhibited tumor growth with a TGI of 85%. Tumor regressions were registered in 42% of animals in the PDX model with low expression of RET (HBCx4B), while no tumor regression were observed in HBCx14. IHC analyses showed an over-expression of EGFR in the HBCx4B xenograft and inhibition of EGFR phosphorylation in treated tumors, suggesting that tumor response to Vandetanib could depend on EGFR inhibition in this tumor. Further analyses of treated tumors revealed a decreased expression of phospho-ERK in the 4 PDX models, indicating inhibition of MAPK pathway, while the phosphorylation status of the PI3K pathway markers S6 and 4EBP1 was unchanged. Finally, treatment by Vandetanib decreased expression of murine Vegf receptors and the endothelial marker Cd31 in the 4 PDX tested, indicating angiogenesis inhibition.

Conclusions: Treatment by Vandetanib resulted in strong tumor growth inhibition in ER negative PDX with over-expression of RET. This effect was associated to inhibition of RET phosphorylation and MAPK pathway and decreased tumor vascularization. The lack of RET over-expression did not predict Vandetanib resistance, and over-expression of EGFR was also associated to a marked tumor response. These preclinical results suggest that Vandetanib treatment could be useful for patients with ER negative breast cancers expressing Vandetanib's targets.

Citation Format: Elisabetta Marangoni, Rana Hatem, Dalila Labiod, Sophie Chateau-Joubert, Rania El Botty, Jean-Luc Servely, Ludmilla De Plater, Ivan Bièche. Vandetanib as a potential new treatment for ER negative breast cancers. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1687. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1687