Abstract A078: Response and resistance to KRAS inhibition in PDAC mouse models
Authors: Abbassi Laleh , Dilly Jullien , Yang Annan , Uribe Giselle , Parent Branden , Hennessey Connor , Kapner Kevin , Jordan Alexander , Dasgupta Shatavisha , Morgado Micaela , Baslan Taimour , Qiang Li , Winter Peter , Chugh Seema , Shalek Alex , Stanger Ben , Raghavan Srivastan , Lowe Scott , Wolpin Brian , Dougan Stephanie , Nowak Jonathan , Aguirre Andrew 
Published: January 2024

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), among the most lethal cancers with a 5-year survival rate of 11%, is a KRAS-driven disease. Studies have shown that a single glycine (G) to aspartic acid (D) substitution on codon 12 of KRAS protein (known as KRASG12D mutation) appears in 41% of all PDAC cases, highlighting the necessity of targeting KRASG12D as a therapeutic approach. MRTX1133, a recently developed potent, non-covalent, direct, and selective KRASG12D small molecule inhibitor demonstrates a high-affinity interaction with KRASG12D. Previous studies have shown striking efficacy of MRTX1133 on growth inhibition of mouse/human PDAC tumor cells carrying KRASG12D mutation in various in vivo and in vitro models, during short-term treatment. Here in our study, we investigated the efficacy of continuous long-term treatment with MRTX1133 in two different PDAC mouse models: KPC (a genetically engineered mouse model harboring a KRASG12D mutation) and its syngeneic orthotopic model. In both models, tumor sizes were detected by ultrasound imaging and after reaching 100-300 mm3 in volume, mice were enrolled in either MRTX1133 or vehicle treatment (30mg/kg, IP, BID). Tumor sizes were monitored by ultrasound regularly and the treatment continued until mice reached clinical endpoint. At endpoint, mice were sacrificed, and tumors were harvested for a series of downstream experiments. Our results showed that while, in both models, vehicle treated tumors grew aggressively and mice reached endpoint in average 6 days post treatment, drug treated tumors regressed rapidly and survival rate increased significantly to as late as 222 days post treatment in KPC model. However, in both models, drug treated tumors ultimately relapsed, developed resistance to the drug, and resulted in death. Further analysis of KPC mice ultrasound images evidenced that the relapsed tumors occurred at the same sites of the primary tumors. This suggests the possibility of relapsed tumors arising from the regrowth of the dormant residual cells from the primary tumors. Re-implantation of the resistant tumors either in the flank or pancreata of the new wildtype mice resulted in the formation of drug-resistant tumors in hosts. In addition, histopathology analysis of the tumor sections demonstrated a significant increase in the ratio of invasive PDAC to PanIN areas in the drug resistant tumors. Furthermore, multiplex immunofluorescence of both MRTX1133 resistant and vehicle treated tumors from KPC mice demonstrated co-expression of markers representing basal-like and classical PDAC subtypes. Moreover, flow cytometry analysis indicated an increase in the myeloid population of the resistant tumors comparing to the vehicle treated group. In the future directions, through applying a broad range of cellular and molecular experiments we will characterize the kinetics of KRAS inhibitor drug resistance and define possible combination therapy startegies to overcome drug resistance mechanisms.

Citation Format: Laleh Abbassi, Jullien Dilly, Annan Yang, Giselle Uribe, Branden Parent, Connor Hennessey, Kevin Kapner, Alexander Jordan, Shatavisha Dasgupta, Micaela Morgado, Taimour Baslan, Li Qiang, Peter Winter, Seema Chugh, Alex Shalek, Ben Stanger, Srivastan Raghavan, Scott Lowe, Brian Wolpin, Stephanie Dougan, Jonathan Nowak, Andrew Aguirre. Response and resistance to KRAS inhibition in PDAC mouse models [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Pancreatic Cancer; 2023 Sep 27-30; Boston, Massachusetts. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A078.