Abstract PO4-26-06: Identifying mutation-independent signaling pathway activation in molecular subtypes of triple negative breast cancers
Authors: Schroff Chanel , Lin Lawrence , van Strijp Dianne , Roses Daniel , Neerken Sigi , Schnabel Freya , Darvishian Farbod , Snuderl Matija 
Published: May 2024

Introduction

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive cancer defined by the absence of estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), and lack of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2). We previously identified molecular subgroups with distinct mutational, epigenetic, and clinicopathologic signatures. Here, we sought to identify signaling pathways using targeted RNA expression-based pathway analysis.

Methods

We analyzed 44 TNBC cases diagnosed at NYU Langone Health between March 2011 and April 2018. Samples were compared based on histology, immunohistochemistry, and epigenetics. We assessed mRNA expression levels of pathway-specific target genes with RT-qPCR using the OncoSIGNal pathway profiling assay. Signal transduction pathway analyses were used to measure activity of the estrogen receptor (ER), androgen receptor (AR), phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), Hedgehog (HH), Notch, and transforming growth factor beta (TGF- β) pathways.

Results

DNA methylation Cluster 1, which is enriched for apocrine histology and PI3K/Akt mutations, showed no increased activity in PI3K pathway by RNA expression, but showed increase of AR and MAPK signaling, with a single case of increased ER signaling in the absence of ESR1 activating mutations. In contrast, both DNA methylation Cluster 2 (no recurrent mutations) and Cluster 3 (DNA instability cluster) showed upregulation in PI3K pathway in 4/7 (57%) and 11/25 (44%) of cases, respectively. PI3K pathway activation was invariably associated with high Ki-67 &gt;15%, however not all high Ki-67 cases showed high PI3K activity. Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) morphology was characterized by a nearly even split between MAPK (13/28, 46%) and PI3K (12/28, 44%), with single HH and TGF- β driven cases. In 5/28 (18%) of IDC we did not identify an upregulated pathway.

Discussion

We show that RNA expression-based pathway activity and mutational and epigenetic analyses provide complimentary information about the molecular landscape of TNBC. PI3K mutations are early drivers and lead to distinct epigenetic signatures, however they are not associated with increased PI3K pathway activity by RNA expression. In contrast, TNBC without PI3K mutations may show activation of the PI3K pathway in the absence of PI3K/Akt mutations. Our observation suggests that distinct biomarkers may be differently suited to predict response to PI3K inhibitors in TNBC. This may include expanding the number of patients for which PI3K/Akt pathway inhibition might be a therapeutic option, as well as explaining the lack of response in PI3K mutated tumors.

Citation Format: Chanel Schroff, Lawrence Lin, Dianne van Strijp, Daniel Roses, Sigi Neerken, Freya Schnabel, Farbod Darvishian, Matija Snuderl. Identifying mutation-independent signaling pathway activation in molecular subtypes of triple negative breast cancers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO4-26-06.