Abstract 358: A prospective study of prostate cancer metastases identifies an androgen receptor activity-low, stemness program associated with resistance to androgen receptor axis inhibitors and unveils mechanisms of clonal evolution
Authors: Menssouri Naoual , Poiraudeau Loic , Helissey Carole , Bigot Ludovic , Sabio Jonathan , Ibrahim Tony , Nicotra Claudio , Ngocamus Maud , Tselikas Lambros , De Baere Thierry , Rouleau Etienne , Lacroix Ludovic , Chaucherau Anne , Friboulet Luc , Flippot Ronan , Baciarello Giulia , Albiges Laurence , Colomba Emeline , Lavaud Pernelle , Michiels Stefan , Maillard Aline , Italiano Antoine , Barlesi Fabrice , Soria Jean-Charles , Scoazec Jean-Yves , Massard christophe , Besse Benjamin , André Fabrice , Fizazi Karim , Gautheret Daniel , Loriot Yohann 
Published: July 2021

Background: The androgen receptor axis inhibitors (ARi) (e.g, enzalutamide, abiraterone acetate) are administered in daily practice for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). However, not all patients respond, and mechanisms of both primary and acquired resistance remain largely unknown.

Methods: In a prospective trial MATCH-R (NCT02517892), 55 mCRPC patients underwent whole exome sequencing (WES) (n=45) and RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) (n=52) of metastatic biopsies before starting ARi. Also, 16 mCRPC patients underwent biopsy at time of resistance (WES=14, RNA-seq = 14). The objectives were to identify genomic alterations associated with resistance to ARi as well as to describe clonal evolution. Primary resistance was determined at 4 months of treatment using composite criteria for progression that included serum prostate specific antigen measurements, bone scan, CT imaging and symptom assessments. Acquired resistance was defined by occurrence of progressive disease after initial response or stable disease. Associations of genomic and transcriptomic alterations with primary resistance were determined using Wilcoxon and Fisher's exact tests.

Results: At 4 months, 22/55 patients in the cohort had disease progression (primary resistance). No genomic alterations from WES analysis were significantly associated with primary resistance. Analysis of sequential biopsies suggests that mCRPC follows mainly a parallel evolution model and involve DNA-repair related mutational processes. At time of acquired resistance to ARi, most tumors acquired new drivers affecting AR pathway (e.g, AR, NCOR1/2) or lineage switching (e.g, RB1, PTEN, TP53). Using computational methods, we measured AR transcriptional function and performed gene set enrichment analysis to identify pathways whose activity state correlated with resistance. AR gene alterations and AR expression were similar between responding and non-responding patients. Transcriptional analysis demonstrated that multiple specific gene sets — including those linked to low AR transcriptional activity, stemness program, RB loss and homologous repair deficiency — were activated in both primary and acquired resistance.

Conclusion: Resistance to AR axis inhibitors results from multiple transcriptional programs already activated in pre-treatment samples. Clonal evolution analysis along with RNA-seq data indicate the role of genomic instability and lineage switching in driving acquired resistance

Citation Format: Naoual Menssouri, Loic Poiraudeau, Carole Helissey, Ludovic Bigot, Jonathan Sabio, Tony Ibrahim, Claudio Nicotra, Maud Ngocamus, Lambros Tselikas, Thierry De Baere, Etienne Rouleau, Ludovic Lacroix, Anne Chaucherau, Luc Friboulet, Ronan Flippot, Giulia Baciarello, Laurence Albiges, Emeline Colomba, Pernelle Lavaud, Stefan Michiels, Aline Maillard, Antoine Italiano, Fabrice Barlesi, Jean-Charles Soria, Jean-Yves Scoazec, christophe Massard, Benjamin Besse, Fabrice André, Karim Fizazi, Daniel Gautheret, Yohann Loriot. A prospective study of prostate cancer metastases identifies an androgen receptor activity-low, stemness program associated with resistance to androgen receptor axis inhibitors and unveils mechanisms of clonal evolution [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 358.