Associating Ex Vivo Drug Sensitivity with Differentiation Status Identifies Effective Drug Combinations for Acute Myeloid Leukemia

The development of molecularly-targeted therapies to improve outcomes relative to chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is impeded by the heterogeneity of genetic aberrations that contribute to disease. Among the multitude of biological mechanisms that lead to AML disease initiation and progression is dysregulation of cytokine signaling pathways, a hallmark of chronic inflammation, which contribute to the growth, survival, and differentiation state of AML cells. We have previously shown that IL-1β, a pro-inflammatory cytokine expressed by many cell types including macrophages and monocytes, stimulates proliferation of leukemic blasts independent of mutational status in primary AML samples via enhanced phosphorylation of p38α MAPK, an effect that can be blocked by IL-1 receptor knockdown or by pharmacologic inhibition (Carey 2017). Additionally, recent studies have shown sensitivity to the approved BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax in AML associates with undifferentiated leukemic cells (Pei 2020; Zhang 2018; Majumder 2020). Based on these associations, we evaluated the combination of doramapimod (DORA), a p38 MAPK inhibitor, with venetoclax (VEN) for potential enhanced sensitivity on primary AML cells. Ex vivo drug screening of primary AML patient samples (n=335) revealed significantly enhanced efficacy of VEN+DORA compared to either single agent (Nemenyi test; p Disclosures Druker: Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties; Recludix Pharma, Inc.: Consultancy; EnLiven: Consultancy, Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding; The RUNX1 Research Program: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck & Co: Patents & Royalties; Aileron: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; ALLCRON: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Aptose Therapeutics: Consultancy, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Blueprint Medicines: Consultancy, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Research Funding; Cepheid: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GRAIL: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; VB Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Iterion Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Nemucore Medical Innovations, Inc.: Consultancy; Third Coast Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Vincerx Pharma: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Vivid Biosciences: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Tyner: Genentech: Research Funding; Takeda: Research Funding; Astrazeneca: Research Funding; Constellation: Research Funding; Agios: Research Funding; Petra: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Array: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Schrodinger: Research Funding.