A distinct p53 target gene set predicts for response to the selective p53-HDM2 inhibitor NVP-CGM097
Abstract
Biomarkers for patient selection are essential for the successful and rapid development of emerging targeted anti-cancer therapeutics. In this study, we report the discovery of a novel patient selection strategy for the p53-HDM2 inhibitor NVP-CGM097, currently under evaluation in clinical trials. By intersecting high-throughput cell line sensitivity data with genomic data, we have identified a gene expression signature consisting of 13 up-regulated genes that predicts for sensitivity to NVP-CGM097 in both cell lines and in patient-derived xenograft models. Interestingly, these 13 genes are known p53 downstream target genes, suggesting that the identified gene signature reflects the presence of at least a partially activated p53 pathway in NVP-CGM097 sensitive tumors. Together, our findings provide evidence for the use of this newly identified predictive gene signature to refine the selection of patients with wild-type p53 tumors and increase the likelihood of response to treatment with p53-HDM2 inhibitors, such as NVP-CGM097.
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Animal experimentation: All animal studies were conducted in accordance to procedures covered by permit number 1975 issued by the Kantonales Veterinäramt Basel-Stadt and strictly adhered to the Eidgenössisches Tierschutzgesetz and the Eidgenössische Tierschutzverordnung. All animals were allowed to adapt for 4 days and housed in a pathogen-controlled environment (5 mice/Type III cage) with access to food and water ad libitum and were identified with transponders.
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© 2015, Jeay et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Further reading
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- Computational and Systems Biology
- Cancer Biology
A number of TP53-MDM2 inhibitors are currently under investigation as therapeutic agents in a variety of clinical trials in patients with TP53 wild type tumors. Not all wild type TP53 tumors are sensitive to such inhibitors. In an attempt to improve selection of patients with TP53 wild type tumors, an mRNA expression signature based on 13 TP53 transcriptional target genes was recently developed (Jeay et al. 2015). Careful reanalysis of TP53 status in the study validation data set of cancer cell lines considered to be TP53 wild type detected TP53 inactivating alterations in 23% of cell lines. The subsequent reanalysis of the remaining TP53 wild type cell lines clearly demonstrated that unfortunately the 13-gene signature cannot predict response to TP53-MDM2 inhibitor in TP53 wild type tumors.