Abstract 6484: Overcoming resistance to EGFR-TKI in NSCLC by simultaneously inhibition of anti-apoptotic proteins
Authors: Weller Sandra , Beigl Tobias , Essmann Frank , Harsch Annika , Kopp Hans-Georg , Ekstrom Tom 
Published: March 2024

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide with 1.8 million deaths in 2020 being the leading cause of cancer related death. With 86% of cases, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most prominent subtype. The survival rate improved over the past 20 years by application of targeted therapies. Driver mutations in protein kinases such as the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are frequent and have evolved as therapeutic targets in anti-cancer therapy. Inhibitors of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTKIs), prominently EGFR-TKIs, are effective in anti-cancer therapy but tumor evolution inevitably generates resistance. Thus, strategies for the treatment of patients with acquired resistance to RTKIs remains an urgent need. Resistance in solid tumors is overcome by a combination of bortezomib with the BH3-mimetic ABT-199 (Muenchow et al. 2020). Also, overcoming ALK-TKI resistance in NSCLC was described by Tanimoto et al. (2021) by proteasome inhibiton that mediates induction of NOXA. Furthermore, the novel described BCL-2 independent activity of ABT-199 to transactivate NOXA expression (Weller et al. 2022) represents a generally active principle by combining drugs with independent mechanism of action. We hypothesize, that combined treatment of EGFR-TKI Osimertinib (OSI) with BH3-mimetics enhances sensitivity to apoptosis induction. To explore this hypothesis, we investigated cell death induction by combined administration of OSI and BH3-mimetics or PIs in NSCLC differing in their mutational status. In addition, we analyzed the expression of BCL-2 family proteins and their relevance and regulation during RTKI-induced cell death by RNA sequencing and Western Blot. These analyses will be performed in cellular model systems of NSCLC with specific resistance mediating mutations of EGFR or activated parallel survival pathways. We found that BCL-2 inhibitors enhance efficacy of OSI in NSCLC, resulting in synergistic cell death induction. Additionally, the sensitivity to BCL-2 inhibitors tends to increase in OSI-resistant NSCLC. Western Blot analysis and RNA sequencing data of OSI-resistant NSCLC identified BCL-2 overexpression and an EMT signature as resistance-mediating mechanisms, which can be overcome by combination of OSI with BCL-2 inhibitors. Indeed, our data suggest that combination of OSI with BCL-2 inhibitors disrupts resistance to OSI in NSCLC. We propose that BCL-2 inhibitors sensitize OSI-resistant NSCLC to effectively induce cell death. Thus, studying the molecular mechanism of synergistic efficacy of RTKI/BCL-2 inhibitor combination therapies, should prompt future efforts in the clinical evaluation of combinatorial regimens. We hypothesize that a general therapeutic concept which relies on simultaneous blocking of driver mutations and survival-promoting BCL-2 proteins represents a generally active principle of a tumor-agnostic mechanism of action.

Citation Format: Sandra Weller, Tobias Beigl, Frank Essmann, Annika Harsch, Hans-Georg Kopp, Tom Ekstrom. Overcoming resistance to EGFR-TKI in NSCLC by simultaneously inhibition of anti-apoptotic proteins [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 6484.