Abstract 1082: MerTK promotes resistance to irreversible EGFR TKIs by activation of the PI3K-AKT pathway in NSCLCs expressing wild-type EGFR
Authors: Yan Dan , Wang Xiaodong , Frye Stephen V. , Earp Shelton H. , DeRyckere Deborah , Graham Douglas K. 
Published: July 2017

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death with poor survival rates worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 85% of all lung cancers and 60% of these have overexpression of wild-type EGFR (wtEGFR), which portends a poor prognosis. In addition, in a recent clinical trial 6 of 12 lung cancer patients whose tumors acquired a resistance-conferring T790M EGFR mutation during treatment with an EGFR TKI reverted to wtEGFR after treatment with Rociletinib/CO-1686, an irreversible EGFR TKI that is selective for the T790M mutant. These data suggest that targeting wtEGFR may improve treatment outcomes; however, to date single agents that target wtEGFR have not been effective in large scale clinical trials and new ways to target wtEGFR in this context are needed. Our laboratory previously identified the MerTK receptor tyrosine kinase as a potential therapeutic target in NSCLC and developed MRX-2843 as a novel MerTK-selective small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor with favorable properties for clinical translation. Irrespective of driver oncogene status, treatment with a MerTK inhibitor yields potent anti-tumor effects in NSCLC cell culture models and blocks tumor growth in xenografts of the MerTK-dependent wtEGFR-expressing A549 cell line. In an attempt to more potently block A549 lung cancer cell proliferation, we screened a library of 378 kinase inhibitors that are in various stages of development and identified synergy between MRX-2843 and multiple irreversible EGFR TKIs, including CO-1686 and Osimertinib/AZD-9291. Further, we found that wtEGFR and MerTK were frequently co-expressed and co-immunoprecipitated with each other in NSCLC cancer cell lysates. Synergistic inhibition of cell expansion was observed in a spectrum of NSCLC cell lines with wtEGFR expression treated with the combination therapy, including H1299 (NRAS mutation), H157 (KRAS mutation), H3122 (ALK fusion), and Colo699 (FGFR1 overexpression). On a mechanistic level, combined treatment with 1μM CO-1686 and 100 nM MRX-2843 dramatically inhibited phosphorylation of both MerTK and EGFR and downstream signaling through the PI3K-AKT and MAPK-ERK pathways, while treatment with equivalent doses of either single agent did not efficiently inhibit MerTK, EGFR or downstream signaling. Additionally, CO-1686 mediated synergistic inhibition of A549 expansion in combination with a PI3K or AKT inhibitor, suggesting a role for PI3K-AKT activation downstream of MerTK contributing to the resistance of wtEGFR NSCLCs to irreversible EGFR TKIs. Taken together, our data provide rationale for a novel strategy for treatment of NSCLC with wtEGFR overexpression by combining MRX-2843 and an irreversible EGFR inhibitor.

Citation Format: Dan Yan, Xiaodong Wang, Stephen V. Frye, Shelton H. Earp, Deborah DeRyckere, Douglas K. Graham. MerTK promotes resistance to irreversible EGFR TKIs by activation of the PI3K-AKT pathway in NSCLCs expressing wild-type EGFR [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1082. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1082