Abstract 5867: Early activation of HGF-cMET serves as a bypass pathway to ALK and RET tyrosine kinase inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Patil Tejas , Hinz Trista , Pine Sharon , Saabawy Hatim , Bunn Paul , Schenk Erin L. , Camidge Ross , Heasley Lynn 
Published: March 2024

Introduction: Alterations of the HGF-cMET axis, often through MET gene amplification, can act as resistance mechanism to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in patients with ALK and RET rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The efficacy of targeting the cMET pathway through use of MET tyrosine kinase inhibitors continues to evolve. An unresolved question is whether the HGF-cMET pathway is activated early in cancer cells after ALK and RET TKI exposure. Here, we evaluate novel pre-clinical models to better characterize the onset of MET pathway-mediated resistance using murine cell lines and orthotopic murine models.

Methods: Murine Eml4-Alk (EA1 and EA3) and Trim24-Ret (TR.1) cell lines were cultured with increasing doses of alectinib (EA1 and EA3) or pralestinib or selpercatinib (TR.1) until resistance was acquired. A cell line was established from an orthotopic TR.1 tumor that progressed on selpercatinib (TR.1-1092). Passage control cells and the TKI-resistant cultures were submitted to clonogenic growth assays in targeting TKI or crizotinib (MET TKI). Control and TKI-resistant cell lines were submitted to HGF ELISA, MET immunoblotting and RNAseq. Orthotopic TR.1 tumors were established in C57BL/6 mice and after ~2 weeks, daily treatment with selpercatinib was performed for 21 days with weekly mCT to monitor tumor size. At 21 days when the tumors were beginning to progress, half the mice were treated with selpercatinib and crizotinib (a MET TKI) while the other half continued on selpercatinib alone.

Results: HGF levels (pg/μg) were significantly higher in alectinib-resistant EA1 cells vs. EA3 cells and was associated with retained sensitivity to crizotinib in alectinib-resistant EA1, but not EA3 cells. MET mRNA (but not gene copy number) and HGF mRNA/protein levels in pralsetinib and selpercatinib resistant TR.1 lines were significantly higher than controls and accompanied by acquired sensitivity to crizotinib. In C57BL/6 mice bearing orthotopic TR.1 tumors, the progression on selpercatinib occurring after 2-3 weeks of treatment was reversed in a durable manner by co-treatment with crizotinib.

Conclusions: The HGF-cMET axis is activated early in response to ALK and RET TKI exposure through transcriptional mechanisms without evidence of MET gene amplification. These findings unveil a potential therapeutic window to disrupt the MET bypass pathway in ALK and RET rearranged NSCLC prior to overt clinical progression.

Citation Format: Tejas Patil, Trista Hinz, Sharon Pine, Hatim Saabawy, Paul Bunn, Erin L. Schenk, Ross Camidge, Lynn Heasley. Early activation of HGF-cMET serves as a bypass pathway to ALK and RET tyrosine kinase inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer [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 5867.