Abstract 1022: Characterization of lurbinectedin as a single agent and in combinations with DNA damage response inhibitor for the treatment and bio-marker discovery of SCLC
Authors: Kundu Kiran , Cardnell Robert J. , Shen Li , Stewart C. Allison , Cargill Kasey , Gay Carl M. , Wang Jing , Byers Lauren A. 
Published: July 2021

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive neuroendocrine lung malignancy which is primarily driven by loss of function of tumor suppressor gene TP53 and RB1 and accounts for around 13-15% of all lung cancers. For metastatic SCLC the standard-of-care, first-line therapy is combination of platinum-based therapy with etoposide or with irinotecan. Though response rate in first-line chemotherapy in SCLC is very high, relapse is almost universal. For decades topotecan, a topoisomerase-I inhibitor was the only FDA approved second-line treatment in SCLC. However, on June 15th, 2020 the FDA approved lurbinectedin for treatment of patients with metastatic SCLC with disease progression from platinum-based chemotherapy and designated it as an orphan drug. Lurbinectedin (PM01183) is a synthetic analog of the natural marine-based tetrahydroisoquinoline, trabectedin which comes from the sea-squirt species Ecteinascidia turbinate. Lurbinectedin blocks transcription by inhibiting the activity of RNA-polymerase-II and inducing its specific degradation by the ubiquitin/proteasome machinery, also inducing DNA damage. Emerging data from our group, and others supports that SCLC is transcriptionally addicted via one of three main transcription factors ASCL1 (A), NeuroD1 (N) & POU2F3 (P), which may contribute to the promising results observed in SCLC trials to date with lurbinectedin. However, there are currently no established biomarkers to predict SCLC sensitivity or resistance to lurbinectedin. Furthermore, little is known regarding molecular changes in SCLC cells or other tumors upon exposure to lurbinectedin. In this preclinical study we investigated the therapeutic efficacy of lurbinectedin in large number of profiled SCLC cell lines representing the four SCLC subtypes (A, N, P and I) to identify candidate markers of drug sensitivity and resistance. In 12 human-derived and 3 mouse model-derived SCLC cell lines, the majority of cell lines were highly sensitive to lurbinectedin at a very low doses (median IC50 0.52 nM, range 0.08-1.84nM). We also observed increased markers of DNA damage following treatment in sensitive cell lines (e.g., γH2AX, ChK1, RPA32) by western blot. Notably, no subtype specific difference in lurbinectedin sensitivity was observed among the four subtypes (A, N, P and I) of SCLC cells. However, cell lines with higher SLFN11 expression were more sensitive to lurbinectedin. Western blot experiments showed significant increase in phosphorylation of γH2AX, ChK1, RPA32 in lurbinectedin treated SCLC cells compared to DMSO treatment. Together our preliminary data confirm lurbinectedin as a potent treatment option for SCLC, and support a rationale for potential combinations with other DNA damaging agents.

Citation Format: Kiran Kundu, Robert J. Cardnell, Li Shen, C. Allison Stewart, Kasey Cargill, Carl M. Gay, Jing Wang, Lauren A. Byers. Characterization of lurbinectedin as a single agent and in combinations with DNA damage response inhibitor for the treatment and bio-marker discovery of SCLC [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 1022.