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Background: LY3143921 hydrate is an orally administered ATP-competitive inhibitor of CDC7, a serine/threonine kinase regulatory protein overexpressed in many cancer types. Following successful preclinical studies, a first-in-human phase I trial of LY3143921 hydrate was initiated in patients with advanced solid tumors. We report the pharmacokinetics of LY3143921 hydrate in this ongoing Cancer Research UK study. Methods: Eligible patients were those with histologically proven advanced/metastatic solid tumors for which no further standard therapy options were available. Patients were administered LY3143921 hydrate as a single oral dose on Day -7, followed by daily administration (dose levels 30-270mg) or twice daily administration (dose levels 150 and 180mg) on study days 1-21. Drug administration was carried out with patients in either a fasted or fed state as shown in Table 1. Samples for pharmacokinetic analysis were obtained following a single drug dose on Day -7 at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours. Additional samples were taken on Day 1 of treatment at doses of 150 and 180mg to investigate potential differences in pharmacokinetics in fed versus fasted states (Day -7 fed versus Day 1 fasted). Samples were analysed using a validated LC-MS/MS assay with a LLOQ of 0.1 ng/mL. Pharmacokinetic analysis was carried out using Certara WinNonlin software (version 6.3) to determine Cmax, Tmax, area under the curve (AUC), plasma half-life, apparent volume of distribution (Vz/F) and apparent clearance (CL/F) of LY3143921 hydrate. Assessment of dose proportionality was made by assessment of graphical plots of AUC versus dose level. Table 1:Summary of LY3143921 hydrate pharmacokinetic data on Day -7 (single dose data)Dose level (mg)Number of patientsFed / fastedCmax (ng/mL)AUC0-24h (ng/mL.h)Half-life (h)CL/F (L/h)Vz/F (L)301Fasted184.44253.3570.1339601Fasted175.05022.42119.44181201Fasted113031382.1738.212018010Fasted144 - 8142505 ± 9904.2 ± 4.079.5 ± 23.9475 ± 4732704Fasted474 - 15126374 ± 14753.4 ± 1.843.8 ± 8.9226 ± 1581503Fed334 - 6321997 ± 4964.4 ± 1.977.2 ± 16.4514 ± 2881803Fed492 - 16002994 ± 9793.2 ± 0.864.2 ± 19.4290 ± 112 Results: Table 1 provides a summary of the pharmacokinetic parameters obtained on Day -7 following a single dose of LY3143921 hydrate (data expressed as range or mean ± SD as appropriate). Overall dose-dependent increases in exposure (based on Cmax and AUC) were observed. There was a general trend towards higher Cmax and AUC values following administration in a fasted versus fed state following a dose of 180 mg, but this was inconsistent across the limited number of patients for who these data were available on both Day -7 (fed) and Day 1 (fasted). Conclusion: The pharmacokinetic data generated to date are consistent with dose dependent increases in drug exposure observed with a flat dosing regimen for LY3143921 hydrate. Citation Format: Shelby Barnett, Melanie Griffin, Richard H. Wilson, Elizabeth R. Plummer, Jeffry T. Evans, Victoria Coyle, Sally Clive, Lisa Godfrey, Nicola Dobbs, Lesley McGuigan, Sue Brook, Gavin Halbert, Gareth J. Veal. Pharmacokinetics of the CDC7 inhibitor LY3143921 hydrate, a CRUK first-in-human phase I trial in patients with advanced solid tumors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 3014.

Introduction: 40-45% of patients with High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer (HGSOC) will eventually relapse with platinum resistant disease. Tothill et al and TCGA are two independent gene expression datasets which have demonstrated the presence of a mesenchymal molecular subgroup, characterised by upregulation of angiogenesis regulating genes. Angiogenesis is known to be an integral pathological feature of HGSOC and anti-angiogenics have dominated the field of drug development in EOC. However, despite this, anti-angiogenic agents have failed to demonstrate a significant impact on overall survival (OS) benefit. In this study, we asked if platinum resistance could be associated with an improved response to anti-angiogenic agents and what the underlying biological rationale for this could be. Methods: A meta-analysis of 14 phase II and III clinical trials in EOC were used to investigate the association between platinum resistance and response to anti-angiogenic agents. In addition, we analysed gene expression in 12 matched pre- and post-chemotherapy EOC samples. Novel isogenic cisplatin-resistant HGSOC cell lines were established to study the development of an angiogenic phenotype. Further studies were performed in novel ascites-derived primary cell lines from HGSOC patients with known outcomes following platinum-based chemotherapy. Result: In the clinical trial meta-analysis, an OS benefit for antiangiogenics was observed in platinum-resistant disease (p=0.029), whilst platinum-sensitive EOC only derived progression free survival (PFS) (p= Discussion: We have demonstrated that previous platinum therapy for EOC is associated with an increase in tumor PDGFα and VEGF-A expression, correlating with a response to anti-angiogenic therapies. This data suggests that platinum therapy resistance may inform the selection of EOC patients for novel antiangiogenic therapies in future clinical trials. Citation Format: Aya El Helali, Nuala McCabe, Christopher Steele, Lara Dura Perez, Christina L. O'Neill, Naomi Dickson, Niamh McGivern, Caolan Harkin, Andrena McCavigan, Reinhold J. Medina, Laura A. Knight, Stephen McQuaid, Jacqueline A. James, Caroline O. Michie, Charlie Gourley, W Glenn McCluggage, Denis P. Harkin, Richard H. Wilson, Alan W. Stitt, Richard D. Kennedy. Platinum resistance in epithelial ovarian cancer is dependent on a PDGFR alpha-VEGF-A signalling mechanism that activates downstream angiogenesis pathways [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 7.

Introduction. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) makes up 15% of breast cancers and is associated with poor prognosis. TNBC treatment remains hampered by early visceral metastasis and lymph node involvement at the time of diagnosis and limited effective therapeutic options. Advances in treatment that translate to significant improvements in outcome have been painstakingly incremental, despite advances in research technologies and TNBC subtyping. We have identified deoxyuridine 5'-triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) as a critical gatekeeper that protects tumor DNA from the genotoxic misincorporation of uracil during treatment with anthracyclines that are commonly used in the FEC chemotherapy regimen. dUTPase catalyses the hydrolytic dephosphorylation of deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP) to deoxyuridine monophosphate (dUMP). This reaction has the dual function of providing dUMP for thymidylate synthase (TS) as part of the thymidylate biosynthesis pathway and of maintaining low intracellular dUTP pools. This is crucial as DNA polymerase cannot distinguish between dUTP and deoxythymidylate triphosphate (dTTP), leading to dUTP misincorporated into DNA. dUTPase is being evaluated as a target in cancer therapy alongside TS-targeted therapies and uracil misincorporation is believed to be a potential mechanism of cytotoxicity. Hypothesis: Targeting dUTPase and inducing uracil misincorporation during the repair of DNA damage induced by anthracyclines represents a novel strategy to induce TNBC cell lethality. Methods. Inhibition of dUTPase (DUTi) was carried out using SMARTpool siRNA or small molecule inhibition. The effect of DUTi in combination with anthracyclines was determined by growth inhibition and clonogenics assays. DNA damage was assessed by Western blot, immune-fluorescent foci detection, and flow cytometry. Nucleotide metabolites were quantified by LC/MS. Results. DUTi significantly sensitised TNBC cell lines to doxorubicin and epirubicin. In the MDA-MB-231 cancer cells, loss of dUTPase expression resulted in a synergistic 80% reduction in survival compared to 0.075µM doxorubicin alone at 40%. This decrease in survival correlated with increased activation of proteins involved in DNA damage response, including γ-H2AX(Ser139), a marker for dsDNA breaks. We anticipate that quantification of nucleotides will show an imbalance of dUTP:dTTP, subsequently leading to uracil misincorporation and resulting cell death. Discussion. These results suggest that repair of anthracycline-induced DNA damage requires dUTPase to prevent uracil misincorporation and that inhibition of dUTPase is a potential novel strategy to enhance the efficacy of anthracyclines. This shows the potential advantage of a dUTPase inhibitor being added to current chemotherapy regimens for TNBC. Future work will elucidate the mechanism of sensitisation and in vivo translation of combination therapy for TNBC. Citation Format: Craig Davison, Olivier P. Chevallier, Catherine Knowlson, Melanie McKechnie, Robbie Carson, Jaime Esteve, Richard Wilson, Robert D. Ladner, Melissa J. LaBonte (Wilson). Imbalanced nucleotide metabolism sensitizes breast cancer cells to anthracyclines [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3836.

Background: There is a significant body of in vitro evidence and pre-clinical data which demonstrates that aspirin inhibits the growth of tumours and prevents the development of metastases[1]. A recent meta-analysis using individual patient data from randomized trials evaluating the cardiovascular effects of aspirin reports a reduction in cancer deaths after 5 years (hazard ratio 0.46, 95% confidence interval 0.27-0.77)[2]. Effects on risk of metastases and death following a cancer diagnosis have also been observed[3]. An analysis of the Nurses’ Health Study found that aspirin use following a diagnosis of stage I-III breast cancer was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer death (for those taking aspirin 2-5 times per week, relative risk 0.27, 95% confidence interval 0.15-0.47)[4]. Concerns over toxicity have limited the use of aspirin as a primary prevention agent against cancer. In the adjuvant setting the benefit:risk ratio will be different with higher morbidity and mortality from recurrent cancer potentially outweighing the risks associated with regular aspirin use. The Add-Aspirin trials will investigate whether regular aspirin use after curative treatment for localised malignancy can prevent tumour recurrence and prolong survival. As an inexpensive drug with a potential therapeutic role in several common cancers, aspirin could have a huge impact on the global cancer burden. Trial design: Multicentre, international, phase III, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial in patients with early breast cancer. Participants will be randomised to enteric-coated aspirin 100mg, aspirin 300mg or matching placebo daily for at least 5 years. Parallel trials based on a common infrastructure will be conducted in colorectal, gastro-oesophageal and prostate cancer. Eligibility criteria: Patients who have undergone primary therapy, including curative surgery and appropriate neoadjuvant/adjuvant therapies for histologically confirmed invasive breast cancer which is node positive or node negative with high-risk features. Patients who have already participated in other primary treatment trials may be eligible subject to agreement from the trial management groups. Specific aims: The primary outcome will be disease-free survival. Secondary endpoints include overall survival, toxicity, cardiac morbidity and assessment of overall healthcare benefits. Translational work will investigate mechanisms of action and biomarkers for toxicity and treatment efficacy (including PIK3CA mutation status and COX-2 expression). Statistical methods: Approximately 3100 patients will be needed to test for a 4% improvement in DFS associated with aspirin use. [1] Langley RE et al. Br J Cancer. 2011;105(8):1107-13. [2] Rothwell PM et al. Lancet. 2011;377(9759):31-41. [3] Rothwell PM et al. Lancet. 2012;379(9826):1591-601. [4] Holmes MD et al. J Clin Oncol 2010;28(9):1467-72. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr OT2-4-01.

With 1.4 million new cases every year, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most common cancer worldwide [Globocan 2012, WHO]. Despite therapeutic advances and improvements in overall care, TNM staging remains the best prognostic indicator for CRC patients’ clinical outcomes and is pivotal for deciding on use of adjuvant chemotherapy after resection of the tumour. Adjuvant chemotherapy is not recommended for many stage II patients and mostly high-risk patients receive chemotherapy. However, there is a lack of robust biomarkers for identifying patient response to chemotherapy, recurrence and mortality risk. We developed a system model of the BCL2 family of proteins (DR_MOMP) to assess the sensitivity of cells to genotoxic stress and to induce apoptosis triggered by chemotherapy. It calculates the stress dose required to induce mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP) based on absolute protein levels and the interaction of pro- and anti-apoptotic BCL2 family proteins. Cells predicted to require a high stress dose showed decreased cell death rates after being exposed to 5FU and Oxaliplatin. Profiles of BAK, BAX, BCL2, BCL(X)L and MCL1 were determined by Reverse Phase Protein Array (RPPA) technology in FFPE primary tumours collected from two distinct cohorts: stage III CRC patients who underwent adjuvant 5FU-based chemotherapy (n = 128), and stage II CRC patients from a completed clinical trial with patients randomised to adjuvant 5FU-based chemotherapy or observation only (n = 138). Protein profiles were inputted into DR_MOMP to determine chemotherapy sensitivity and to classify patients into high- or low risk categories. Findings were validated on the TCGA COAD cohort using both protein (RPPA) and mRNA (SeqV2 RSEM) expression data. Stage II patients classified as high-risk by DR_MOMP and randomised to observation only had approximately 2-fold increased risk of death from CRC compared to those classified as low-risk or received chemotherapy (HR 2.4; 95% CI 1.2-4.8; p-value = 0.0199). Among stage III patients treated with FOLFOX, those classified as high- versus low-risk had a more than 10-fold increased risk of death from CRC (HR 10.6; 95% CI 2.4-46.3; p-value < 0.0001). We validated this finding in 261 stage II-IV patients of the TCGA COAD cohort (HR 10.6; 95% CI 1.2-12.5; p-value = 0.0125). DR_MOMP predicted mortality risk independent of TNM staging and KRAS mutation status. Our system delivers a novel predictive and prognostic biomarker that could be combined with TNM staging when assessing initial risk and subsequent clinical management of CRC patients. Citation Format: Andreas U. Lindner, Manuela Salvucci, Mattia Cremona, Naser Monsefi, Sarah Curry, Clare Morgan, Alexa Resler, Robert O’Byrne, Orna Bacon, Michael Stuehler, Lorna Flanagan, Richard Wilson, Patrick G. Johnston, Manuel Salto-Tellez, Sophie Camilleri-Broët, Deborah A. McNamara, Bryan T. Hennessy, Elaine W. Kay, Pierre Laurent-Puig, Sandra Van Schaeybroeck, Jochen H.M. Prehn. Retrospective evaluation of a system model of the BCL2 family of proteins as a predictive and prognostic biomarker for the clinical outcome of stage II-IV colorectal cancer patients. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 4924.

Introduction - MErCuRIC is a Phase Ib/II clinical trial study using a combined MEK1/2 - cMET inhibition in RAS MT and RAS WT (with aberrant c-MET) colorectal cancer patients. As part of the discovery efforts on the cases enrolled in Phase I, we aimed to analyze the mutation status of 10 genes that could potentially be associated to the doublet MEK/MET inhibition. This study compared the MEK/MET-specific panel with the Ion Torrent 50 gene panel, aiming to compare: long-established, commercially available panels against this newly developed panel; the Ion Torrent PGM2 platform against Illumina MiSeq v.3 600 bp chemistry; hot-spot-based against full exomes-designed; and to compare the use of different bioinformatics reporter systems. The overlapping genes between the panels were: EGFR (n = 3); BRAF (n = 4); KRAS (n = 8); NRAS (n = 1); MET (n = 8); PIK3CA (n = 6); and ERBB2 (n = 5). Summary of Method NGS Design - The Multiplicom - MErCuRIC specific MASTR assay includes PTEN, MAP2K1 (MEK), EGFR, KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, PIK3CA, ERBB2, MET and PIK3R1, involving 257 amplicons in 4 plexes covering all coding exons of the 10 genes. Of the 257, 21 are control amplicons to allow for gene deletions/amplifications. The average length of the amplicons is 198 bp ranging from 124 bp to 255 bp. Validation - From a pool of 120 routine tumour samples characterised with a 50 gene mutation panel (Ion Torrent PGM2) and confirmed by Sanger sequencing and/or COBAS (Roche) QPCR, 24 FFPE cases were selected representing colorectal cancer and 4 other solid tumour types; all included a variety of DNA quality, and DNA concentration was standardized prior to library preparation. Pre-analytical handling was in accordance with established protocols in a laboratory, clinically-accredited in the UK for tissue-based, anatomical pathology testing. Results The evaluation of this MEK/MET-specific panel (Illumina MiSeq platform) resulted in 100% coverage of all targets, a higher than 97% on target reads and higher than 99% of all amplicons within 20% of mean coverage. The design minimized the areas of low coverage. A small part of exon 9 of ERBB2 was covered suboptimally: the low covered region is 30 bp in size located at the 5’ end of exon 9. It is unlikely that this low coverage led to false negative results since no mutations are reported in the COSMIC database for this DNA fragment. The results were concordant in relation to mutations involved in the genes stated above. Importantly, the percentages of allele frequency between both methods were similar, with variations ranging from 0.2% to 11.5% with an average variation of 5.2%. Insertion/deletion (Indel) detection however, required alternative bioinformatics pathways. Conclusion After combining well-established quality metrics to cover pre-analytical aspects with suitable technologies such as the MiSeq platform (Illumina) and appropriate bioinformatics, we recognize that this MEK/MET-specific NGS panel is fit for purpose. Citation Format: Perry Maxwell, Jurgen Del Favero, Marc-Aurel Fuchs, Josep Tabernero, Tim Maughan, Mark Middleton, Richard Addams, Christian Rolfo, Brian Hennessey, Pierre Laurent-Puig, Alberto Bardelli, Thierry Andre, Vlad Popovici, Patrick Johnstone, Richard Wilson, Mark Lawler, Sandra Van Schaeybroeck, Manuel Salto Tellez. Validation of a MEK/MET-specific NGS panel for early phase trial interrogation. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1396.

Small bowel accounts for only 0.5% of cancer cases in the US; a third of which are adenocarcinomas. But incidence rates have been rising at a rate of 2.4% per year over the last decade. Because of the rarity of this cancer, little is known about its molecular pathology and there are no molecular markers for diagnosis, predicting prognosis or therapeutic intervention. The aim of this study was therefore to look into this disease at a molecular level to better understand its biology and identify biomarkers and potential points of therapeutic intervention. Using a retrospective 28 patient matched normal-tumor cohort next generation sequencing (NGS) was performed using a 50 gene cancer hotspot panel, gene expression arrays were used to profile ∼29,000 RNA transcripts and 450k CpG methylation arrays were used to carry out DNA methylation analysis. We also looked at microsatellite instability (MSI), HER2 and p53 expression. NGS identified novel mutations in IDH1, CDH1, KIT, NRAS, FGFR2, FLT3, NPM1, PTEN, MET, AKT1, RET, NOTCH1 and ERBB4. Previously known mutations such as high-frequency KRAS and TP53 and low-frequency HER2 were also confirmed in our cohort. The average patient had 2.6 mutations with eight patients having only a single mutation to one having seven. Array data revealed 17% of CpGs and 5% of RNA transcripts assayed to be differentially methylated and expressed respectively (p This study has for the first time highlighted the extent of molecular changes taking place in SBA. The clinical potential of TP53 mutations and Kazald1 hypomethylation as prognostic biomarkers and CHN2 as a diagnostic biomarker are focus areas for further research by our group. Citation Format: Muhammad A. Alvi, Darragh G. McArt, Paul Kelly, Marc-Aurel Fuchs, Matthew Alderdice, Clare M. McCabe, Victoria Bingham, Claire McGready, Stephen McQuaid, Perry Maxwell, Peter Hamilton, Jacqueline A. James, Richard Wilson, Manuel Salto-Tellez. Comprehensive molecular pathology analysis of small bowel adenocarcinoma reveals novel targets with clinical utility. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 4792. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-4792

Background: Pro-inflammatory signaling within the tumor microenvironment is proposed to aid tumor progression and metastasis in a number of cancer types, including colorectal cancer (CRC). The pro-inflammatory chemokine, CXCL8 (interleukin-8) has been associated with tumor size, Dukes stage, liver metastasis and overall survival in CRC. This chemokine is expressed by multiple cell types within the tumor microenvironment including tumor cells, innate immune, and vascular endothelial cells. Additionally, the elevated expression of both CXCL8 receptors, CXCR1 and CXCR2, in CRC tumor epithelium relative to normal adjacent tissue indicates that CRC is receptive to both an autocrine tumor-derived stimulus and a paracrine ‘stromal-derived’ stimulus. Objectives: Our first objective was to characterise how mutation of the oncogene K-Ras may regulate CXCL8 expression and signaling in CRC cells in vitro. Secondly, we sought to characterise the importance of CXCL8 in modulating survival of K-Ras mutant CRC cells. Results: Mutation of K-Ras or the catalytic subunit of phosphatidyl-inositol-3 kinase (PI3KCA) is indicated in 35-40% and 15-18% of colorectal adenocarcinomas, respectively. The HCT-116 cell line harbours mutations in both K-Ras and PI3KCA. Basal CXCL8, CXCL1 and CXCR1/2 levels were significantly elevated in K-Ras mutant HCT-116 cells relative to isogenic HKH-2 K-Ras wild-type cells. Treatment with inhibitors of AKT and/or MEK attenuated CXCL8 transcript levels and secretion in K-Ras mutant cells, but conversely increased CXCR1/2 gene expression. Attenuation of CXCL8 gene expression using siRNA demonstrated a concurrent loss of cell viability in CRC cells; this effect was significantly marked in K-Ras mutant HCT-116 cells, consistent with increased dependence of these cells on elevated CXCL8 signaling. Moreover, attenuation of CXCR2 signaling potentiated the sensitivity of K-Ras mutant HCT-116 cells to oxaliplatin and 5-FU. In addressing mechanisms underpinning CXCL8-promoted resistance, treatment with recombinant human CXCL8 was shown to increase expression of anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-XL and Bcl-2 and furthermore, induce phosphorylation of multiple tyrosine kinases (RTKs) including EGFR, c-MET and FGFR1. Furthermore, blockade of CXCR2 signaling attenuated oxaliplatin-induced increases in anti-apoptotic protein expression in HCT-116 cells. Conclusions: CXCL8 signaling is elevated in K-Ras and PI3KCA mutant cancers. The up-regulation of autocrine CXCL8 signaling is linked to the promotion of cell survival, principally mediated through the inhibition of apoptosis and promotion of RTK signaling. The clinical relevance of CXCL8 signaling in modulating outcome of K-Ras mutant CRC to current treatments remains to be determined. However, CXCL8-directed therapies may be relevant as chemo-sensitizing agents in K-Ras and/or PIK3CA mutant tumors. Citation Format: Laura M. Campbell, Olabode Oladipo, Pamela J. Maxwell, Daniel Longley, Richard H. Wilson, David JJ Waugh. Pro-inflammatory CXCL8 signaling potentiates survival of K-Ras mutant colorectal cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5267. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5267