Abstract LB-219: Synthetic lethal screening reveals FGFR as one of combinatorial targets to overcome resistance to Met-targeted therapy

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA Met is a receptor tyrosine kinase that promotes cancer progression. In addition, Met has been implicated in resistance of tumors to various targeted therapies such as EGFR inhibitors in lung cancers, and has been prioritized as a key molecular target for cancer therapy. However, the underlying mechanism of resistance to Met targeting drugs is poorly understood. Here, we describe screening of 1310 genes to search for key regulators related to drug resistance to an anti-Met therapeutic antibody (SAIT301) by employing a siRNA-based synthetic lethal screening method. We found that knockdown of 69 genes in Met-amplified MKN45 cells sensitized the anti-tumor activity of SAIT301. Pathway analysis of these 69 genes implicated FGFR as a key regulator for anti-proliferative effects of Met targeting drugs. Inhibition of FGFR3 increased target cell apoptosis through the suppression of Bcl-xL expression, followed by reduced cancer cell growth in the presence of Met targeting drugs. Treatment of cells with the FGFR inhibitors substantially restored the efficacy of SAIT301 in SAIT301-resistant cells and enhanced the efficacy in SAIT301-sensitive cells. In addition to FGFR3, integrin β3 is another potential target for combination treatment with SAIT301. Suppression of integrin β3 decreased AKT phosphorylation in SAIT301-resistant cells and restores SAIT301 responsiveness in HCC1954 cells, which are resistant to SAIT301. Gene expression analysis from using CCLE DB shows cancer cells with high levels of FGFR and integrin β3 are resistant to crizotinib treatment, suggesting FGFR and integrin β3 could be used as predictive markers for Met targeted therapy and provide a potential therapeutic option to overcome acquired and innate resistance for the Met targeting drugs. Citation Format: Bogyou Kim. Synthetic lethal screening reveals FGFR as one of combinatorial targets to overcome resistance to Met-targeted therapy. [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 LB-219. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-LB-219