Abstract 1033: Estrogen receptor gene fusions drive endocrine therapy resistance in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer

Abstract

Dysregulation of estrogen receptor gene (ESR1) is an established mechanism of inducing endocrine therapy resistance. We previously discovered a chromosomal translocation event generating an estrogen receptor gene fused in-frame to C-terminal sequences of YAP1 (ESR1-YAP1) that contributed to endocrine therapy resistance in estrogen receptor positive (ER⁺) breast cancer models. This current study compares functional and pharmacological properties of additional ESR1 gene fusion events of both early stage (ESR1-NOP2) and advanced endocrine therapy resistant (ESR1-YAP1 and ESR1-PCDH11x) breast cancers. The YAP1 and PCDH11x fusions conferred estrogen-independent and fulvestrant-resistant growth in T47D, an ER⁺ breast cancer cell line in vitro and in vivo, in contrast to the NOP2 fusion which was sensitive to hormone deprivation. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of mouse lungs revealed significantly higher numbers of micrometastatic ER⁺ cells from the T47D tumors expressing the YAP1 and PCDH11x fusions than YFP control and NOP2 fusion. Estrogen response element (ERE) reporter and pull down assays revealed that although all ESR1 fusions studied bound EREs, only the YAP1 and PCDH11x caused ERE activation. Cell lines containing these “canonical” ESR1 fusions upregulated expression of ER responsive genes such as TFF1 and GREB1 in hormone deprived conditions. In contrast, the NOP2 fusion neither induced ERE activity nor upregulated TFF1 and GREB1 gene expression. The proliferative ability of canonical fusion-containing T47D cells was inhibited by palbociclib, a CDK4/6 inhibitor, in a dose-dependent manner. In vivo growth of patient-derived xenograft tumors naturally harboring the ESR1-YAP1 fusion (WHIM18) was significantly reduced in mice fed palbociclib-containing chow. Mice transplanted with WHIM18 also formed lung micrometastases, with an ER IHC staining pattern similar to lungs from YAP1 and PCDH11x fusion expressing T47D xenografts. In conclusion, in-frame ERE activating canonical fusions occur in end-stage, drug resistant, advanced breast cancer and can be added to ESR1 point mutations as a class of somatic mutation that may cause acquired resistance. Endocrine therapy resistant growth induced by these fusions can be treated with CDK4/6 inhibition, using an FDA approved drug, palbociclib, which could potentially improve outcomes in patients with ESR1 translocated tumors.

Citation Format: Jonathan T. Lei, Jieya Shao, Jin Zhang, Michael Iglesia, Doug W. Chan, Ryoichi Matsunuma, Xiaping He, Purba Singh, Yoshimasa Kosaka, Robert Crowder, Svasti Haricharan, Shyam Kavuri, Jeremy Hoog, Chanpheng Phommaly, Rodrigo Goncalves, Susana Romalho, Wei-Chu Lai, Oliver Hampton, Anna Rogers, Ethan Tobias, Poojan Parikh, Sherri Davies, Cynthia Ma, Vera Suman, Kelly Hunt, Mark Watson, Katherine A. Hoadley, Aubrey Thompson, Charles Perou, Chad J. Creighton, Chris Maher, Matthew J. Ellis. Estrogen receptor gene fusions drive endocrine therapy resistance in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1033. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1033