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The small molecule HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) lapatinib (Tykerb®) is approved for the therapy of patients with HER2-positive breast carcinomas who have progressed on trastuzumab (Herceptin®). Unfortunately, the efficacy of this HER2 TKI is limited by both primary (inherent) and acquired resistance, the latter typically occurring within 12 months of starting therapy. One of the key factors limiting our understanding of the mechanisms involved in lapatinib resistance is the lack of published preclinical models. We herein review lapatinib-refractory models recently developed at the bench and the survival pathways discovered. As hyperactivation of the pharmacologically targetable PI3K/mTOR/p70S6K1 axis appears to be central to the occurrence of lapatinib resistance, preclinical data showing enhanced antitumour effects when combining lapatinib with mTOR inhibitors (e.g., rapamycin analogues and NVP-BEZ235) highlight the importance of translational work to yield clinically useful regimens capable of delaying or treating lapatinib resistance. The unexpected ability of the anti-type II diabetes drug metformin to inactivate mTOR and decrease p70S6K1 activity further reveals that this biguanide, generally considered non-toxic and remarkably inexpensive, might be considered for new combinatorial lapatinib-based protocols in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer patients.

The one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) assay is a molecular procedure that can identify deposits of breast cancer (BC) cells in the sentinel lymph node (SLN). We examined the consistency of the OSNA assay with a classic hematoxylin-eosin (H&E)-based immunohistochemistry (IHC) study and evaluated how OSNA-based axillary staging might impact the therapeutic management of BC patients. SLN biopsy results were considered to be positive in 60 patients (40%) in the OSNA group (N = 148) and in 43 (28%) patients in the IHC cohort (N = 153, p = 0.023). There was no difference in the macrometastasis (22% for OSNA, 15% for H&E, p = 0.139) or micrometastasis (19% for OSNA, 13% for H&E, p = 0.166) rates, but we found statistically significant differences in the number of isolated tumor cells (1% for OSNA, 11% for H&E, p < 0.001). There were no differences in the administration rate of adjuvant systemic therapy between the OSNA (66% in the SLN+ patients) and the H&E (74% in the SLN+ patients) groups (p = 0.159). The OSNA assay allows for the detection of SLN metastases more precisely than conventional pathologic methods but does not alter the therapeutic management of SLN+ BC patients.

Using non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) cells harboring the erlotinib-sensitizing Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) exon 19 mutation delE746-A750, we developed erlotinib-refractory derivatives in which hyperactive Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 Receptor (IGF-1R) signaling associated with enrichment in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related morphological and transcriptional features. We then explored whether an IGF-1R/EMT crosstalk was sufficient to promote erlotinib refractoriness in the absence of second-site EGFR mutations, MET and AXL hyperactivation. Transforming Growth Factor-beta1 (TGF beta 1)-induced mesenchymal trans-differentiation was sufficient to impede erlotinib functioning in the presence of drug-sensitive delE746-A750 EGFR mutation. Pharmacological blockade of IGF-1R fully prevented the TGF beta 1's ability to activate an EMT protein signature [E-cadherin low/vimentin high]. The sole presence of erlotinib was capable of rapidly activate an IGF-1R-dependent, vimentin-enriched mesenchymal-like phenotype in delE746-A750-mutated epithelial cells. Even if transient, NSCLC cells' intrinsic plasticity to undergo crosstalk between IGF-1R and EMT signaling pathways can sufficiently eliminate the erlotinib-sensitizing effect of highly prevalent EGFR mutations and suggests the urgent need for dual IGF-1R/EMT-targeting strategies to circumvent erlotinib resistance.

In the previous issue of Breast Cancer Research, Jin and colleagues [1] demonstrated that the lipogenic enzyme fatty acid synthase (FASN) is phosphorylated when it is in complex with the tyrosine kinase receptor HER2. HER2-dependent activating phosphorylation of FASN was related to tumor progression and was sensitive to the dual HER1/HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor lapatinib [1]. Adding to knowledge of the therapeutic value of the phosphorylation status of FASN in HER2-driven breast cancer (BC), we now provide experimental evidence that the expression status of FASN in the extracellular milieu (that is, extracellular FASN) may function as a novel biomarker that distinctively predicts molecular functioning of lapatinib. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-activating drugs, by mimicking an elevated AMP/ATP ratio in BC cells, drastically augment the release of extracellular FASN in HER2-positive BC cells [2]. Lapatinib-induced deprivation of tumor cell energy activates AMPK to trigger an entire cascade of metabolic events, including suppression of FASN expression and activity [1,3]. We hypothesized that a differential ability to initiate AMPK-sensed metabolic stress responses may provide information about the efficacy of HER-targeting drugs via changes in the extracellular FASN status. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based quantitative analyses revealed that lapatinib treatment drastically enhanced extracellular FASN concentration (by at least 8.0-fold) (Figure ​(Figure1a).1a). Immunoblotting assessment of AMPK phosphorylation at Thr172 confirmed that lapatinib treatment induced a strong activation of AMPK (Figure ​(Figure1b).1b). A weak but detectable upregulation of PP-AMPKThr172 was observed upon treatment with gefitinib. Trastuzumab, cetuximab, and erlotinib - all of which are unable to promote FASN release - failed to activate AMPK. AMPK knockdown using short interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection [2] fully prevented lapatinib-induced FASN release (Figure S1). Immunoblotting and cell imaging analyses confirmed that FASN was depleted from the cytosol of lapatinib-treated HER2 overexpressors and accumulated in their extracellular milieu (Figure S1). Figure 1 Lapatinib's molecular functioning involves AMPK-dependent release of extracellular fatty acid synthase (FASN). (a) HER1 or HER2 inhibitors (or both) differentially regulate extracellular expression of FASN. FASN concentration in cell culture supernatants ... Treatment with lapatinib dramatically increased FASN release (by approximately 17 times) in lapatinib-responsive SKBR3 TzbR cells (Figure ​(Figure1c),1c), which were selected for long-term outgrowth in trastuzumab-containing culture medium. Extracellular FASN remained unaltered in response to trastuzumab or lapatinib in JIMT-1 BC cells, which exhibit de novo cross-refractoriness to multiple HER1/2-targeted therapies (Figure ​(Figure1c).1c). Lapatinib treatment significantly activated AMPK and promoted an enormous accumulation of extracellular FASN in lapatinib-hypersensitive MCF-7/HER2 cells (Figure ​(Figure1d).1d). Equimolar concentrations of lapatinib failed to activate AMPK or to alter FASN release into the extracellular milieu of MCF-7/HER2 LapR cells, which were obtained by continuously subculturing parental MCF-7/HER2 cells with high-dose lapatinib. High levels of circulating FASN can be found in peripheral blood of HER2-overexpressing BC patients [4]. The exclusive ability of lapatinib to actively promote the extracellular release of FASN via AMPK-sensed energy depletion in metabolically demanding HER2-driven BC cell growth might provide a molecular rationale to evaluate the predictive value of circulating FASN in HER2-positive BC patients receiving lapatinib.