Abstract 2792: The small molecule imipridone ONC201 is active in tumor types with dysregulation of the DRD2 pathway
Authors: Madhukar Neel , Prabhu Varun Vijay , Dardenne Etienne , Doherty Faye , VanEngelenburg Alexander , Tarapore Rohinton , Garnett Mathew , McDermott Ultan , Benes Cyril , Oster Wolfgang , El-Deiry Wafik , Stein Mark , Rickman David , Allen Joshua , Elemento Olivier 
Published: July 2017

ONC201 is the lead small molecule of the imipridone class of anti-cancer compounds that is currently being evaluated in phase I/II advanced cancer clinical trials. ONC201 is a highly selective antagonist of the G protein-coupled receptor dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) that has exhibited promising anti-cancer efficacy and an exceptional safety profile. In the current study, we evaluated the influence of the DRD2 pathway on the responsiveness of tumors to ONC201 in preclinical and clinical studies. In vitro and in vivo studies have previously demonstrated robust ONC201 efficacy in glioblastoma (Allen et al 2013) and lymphoma (Ishizawa et al 2016) models. ONC201 Phase I trials have also revealed evidence of clinical benefit in endometrial cancer (Stein et al 2016). In vitro efficacy profiling of ONC201 in the Genomic of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC) collection of cell lines confirmed broad-spectrum anti-cancer efficacy with particularly high sensitivity in lymphoma, neuroblastoma, endometrial and brain cancer. DRD2 is overexpressed in many cancers and DRD2 antagonism kills cancer cells via the same signaling pathways that are altered in response to ONC201. Results from the Project Achilles screen indicate that anti-cancer effects of DRD2 knockdown in various tumor types correlated with overall ONC201 efficacy. In particular, we noted that lymphoma cells are highly sensitive to DRD2 knockdown- a tumor type where ONC201 performs well. Gene expression analysis of samples in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) revealed high DRD2 expression in ONC201-sensitive tumor types, such as lymphoma and glioblastoma, and that high expression of DRD2 in glioma was associated with a poor prognosis. High DRD2 expression was also observed in neuroendocrine prostate cancer relative to other prostate cancer subtypes. In immunohistochemistry analyses of patient-derived tumor tissue microarrays, DRD2 overexpression was particularly noted in endometrial cancer, neuroblastoma and pheochromocytoma relative to normal tissues. The anti-cancer activity of ONC201 in pheochromocytoma and neuroendocrine prostate cancer was confirmed in cell viability assays. In ONC201-treated patients, ELISA was used to quantitate serum prolactin levels, a clinical biomarker of DRD2 antagonism. A 2-fold mean induction of prolactin, was detected in the serum of ONC201-treated patients, in accordance with physiological DRD2 antagonism. Interestingly, expression of DRD5 (a D1-like dopamine receptor), which counteracts DRD2 signaling, was significantly negatively correlated with ONC201 in vitro potency in the NCI60 and GDSC dataset (P &lt;.05). Furthermore, a missense DRD5 mutation was identified in cancer cells with acquired resistance to ONC201. In conclusion, the DRD2 pathway is expressed in ONC201-sensiive tumors and may provide biomarkers of response.

Citation Format: Neel Madhukar, Varun Vijay Prabhu, Etienne Dardenne, Faye Doherty, Alexander VanEngelenburg, Rohinton Tarapore, Mathew Garnett, Ultan McDermott, Cyril Benes, Wolfgang Oster, Wafik El-Deiry, Mark Stein, David Rickman, Joshua Allen, Olivier Elemento. The small molecule imipridone ONC201 is active in tumor types with dysregulation of the DRD2 pathway [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 2792. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2792