|
|
||||||||
Cancer & Infection Research, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 4TG, UK
(Requests for offprints should be addressed to Alan E Wakeling; Email: alan.wakeling{at}astrazeneca.com)
This paper was presented at the 1st Tenovus/AstraZeneca Workshop, Cardiff (2005). AstraZeneca has supported the publication of these proceedings.
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| Epidermal growth factor signalling and breast cancer |
|---|
|
|
|---|
To discover small molecules that might inhibit EGFR TK activity we used an enzyme preparation from a human tumour cell line (A431) that highly overexpresses EGFR. We tested compounds representative of the chemical diversity in the company compound inventory in a substrate tyrosine-phosphorylation assay (Ward et al. 1994). The discovery at ICI Pharmaceuticals in 1992 of the anilinoquinazoline class of inhibitors (Barker & Davies 1992, Wakeling et al. 1996) proved that potent and selective inhibitors of EGFR TK are accessible. This was subsequently confirmed by other investigators (Fry et al. 1994) and the chemistry of quinazoline-derived TKIs has since expanded to encompass many similar compounds (Bridges 2001). Discovery of this class of inhibitors was the first step in the programme that selected gefitinib (Iressa; ZD1839) as the drug candidate for clinical evaluation (Barker et al. 2001, Wakeling et al. 2002). Clinical trials in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) established that a single daily oral dose of 250 mg gefitinib has antitumour activity and is sufficiently well-tolerated to permit long-term use (Fukuoka et al. 2003, Kris et al. 2003).
| ErbB inhibitors and breast cancer |
|---|
|
|
|---|
It is difficult to predict how the therapeutic use of ErbB inhibitors will develop. The great complexity of the the ErbB signalling network and the downstream transducers of these signals, in particular components of the ras/raf/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and Akt pathways, potentially offer a large number of novel opportunities for targeted breast cancer treatments (Yarden & Sliwkowski 2001, Gullick 2005). At the level of the ErbB receptor family numerous antibody and small-molecule TKIs as well as gefitinib are being investigated in breast cancer patients (Nicholson et al. 2004, Slamon 2004), including erlotinib (Tarceva), an EGFR-selective, reversible TKI, lapatinib (GW572016), a reversible inhibitor which targets both EGFR and ErbB2 (Chu et al. 2005), and canertinib (CI-1033), an irreversible pan-ErbB inhibitor (Britten 2004). There is no obvious means to judge how these different drug-activity profiles will influence the balance between efficacy and tolerability; nor is there yet any means to match the drug and the patient. Whereas it is possible to measure the level of expression of each of the ErbB proteins in tumour cells such measurements, with the notable exception of amplification of erbB2, have failed to predict drug sensitivity (Parra et al. 2004). This should be no surprise because the mere presence of the target reveals nothing about whether the particular receptor is or is not playing a deterministic role in an individuals disease. Much work remains to define which biomarkers change in response to TKI action, how such changes might predict which patient could benefit from treatment with a specific drug and whether protein- or gene-expression array analysis in sensitive and resistant cells or tumours could help to match patients and drugs (Campbell et al. 2004). Recent studies that related activating mutations in the kinase domain of EGFR to sensitivity to gefitinib in patients with NSCLC (Lynch et al. 2004, Paez et al. 2004) appear unlikely to translate to other tumours, including breast cancer, because no such mutations were found in other tumours (Lee et al. 2005). Thus, today we are ignorant of what determines breast cancer sensitivity to ErbB signalling inhibitors, with the notable exception of erbB2 amplification, although, with respect to gefitinib, the presence or absence of the oestrogen receptor seems to distinguish patients who might respond from those who are much less likely to receive any benefit.
| Future prospects |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| Conclusions |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| Acknowledgements |
|---|
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Barker AJ & Davies DH 1992 Therapeutic preparations containing quinazoline derivatives. European Patent EP-520722-A.
Barker AJ, Gibson KH, Grundy W, Godfrey AA, Barlow JJ, Healy MP, Woodburn JR, Ashton SE, Curry BJ, Scarlett L, Henthorn L & Richards L 2001 Studies leading to the identification of ZD1839 (IressaTM): an orally active, selective epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeted to the treatment of cancer. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters 11 19111914.
Baselga J, Albanell J, Ruiz A, Lluch A, Gascon P, Gonzalez S, Guillen V, Sauleda S, Averbuch S & Rojo F 2003 Phase II and tumor pharmacodynamic study of gefitinib (ZD1839) in patients with advanced breast cancer. Proceedings of the American Society for Clinical Oncology 22 7 Abs 24.
Bazley LA & Gullick 2005 The epidermal growth factor receptor family. Endocrine-Related Cancer 12 (Suppl 1) S17S27.
Bridges AJ 2001 Chemical inhibitors of protein kinases. Chemical Reviews 101 25412571.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
Britten CD 2004 Targeting ErbB receptor signalling: a pan-ErbB approach to cancer. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 3 13351342.
Bromann PA, Korkaya H & Courtneidge SA 2004 The interplay between Src family kinases and receptor tyrosine kinases. Oncogene 23 79577968.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
Campbell DA, Carmichael J & Chopra R 2004 Molecular pathology in oncology the AstraZeneca perspective. Pharmacogenomics 5 11671173.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
Chu I, Blackwell K, Chen S & Slingerland J 2005 The dual ErbB1/ErbB2 inhibitor, lapatinib (GW572016), cooperates with tamoxifen to inhibit both cell proliferation and estrogen-dependent, gene expression in antiestrogen-resistant breast cancer. Cancer Research 65 1825.
Cobleigh MA, Vogel CL, Tripathy D, Robert NJ, Scholl S, Fehrenbacher L, Wolter JM, Paton V, Shak S, Lieberman G & Slalom DJ 1999 Multinational study of the efficacy and safety of humanized anti-HER2 monclonal antibody in women who have HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer that has progressed after chemotherapy for metastatic disease. Journal of Clinical Oncology 17 26392648.
Fry DW, Kraker AJ, McMichael A, Ambroso LA, Nelson JM, Leopold WR, Connors RW & Bridges AJ 1994 A specific inhibitor of the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase. Science 265 10931095.
Fukuoka M, Yano S, Giaccone G, Tamura T, Nakagawa K, Douillard JY, Nishiwaki Y, Vansteenkiste J, Kudoh S, Rischin D et al. 2003 Multi-institutional randomized phase II trial of gefitinib for previously treated patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 21 22372246.
Gee JM, Gutteridge E, Robertson JR, Wakeling AE, Jones HE & Nicholson RI 2004 Biological markers during early treatment of tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer with gefitinib (Iressa). Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 88 (Suppl 1) Abs 307.
Green TP, Fennell M, Whittaker R, Curwen J & Jacobs V 2004 Preclinical activity of AZD0530, a novel, oral, potent and selective inhibitor of Src family kinases. European Journal of Cancer Supplements 2(8) Abs 361.
Gullick WJ 1991 Prevalence of aberrant expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor in human cancers. British Medical Bulletin 47 8798.
Gutteridge E, Gee JM, Nicholson RI & Robertson JFR 2004 Biological markers associated with response to gefitinib (ZD1839) in patients with breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 22 14S 648 (ASCO Meeting Abstracts).
Head J & Johnston SRD 2004 New targets for therapy in breast cancer. Farnesyltransferase inhibitors. Breast Cancer Research 6 262268.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
Ishizawar R & Parsons SJ 2004 c-Src and cooperating partners in human cancer. Cancer Cell 6 209214.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
Knowlden JM, Hutcheson IR, Jones HE, Madden T, Gee JMW, Harper ME, Barrow D, Wakeling AE & Nicholson RI 2003 Elevated levels of epidermal growth factor receptor/c-erbB2 heterodimers mediate an autocrine growth regulatory pathway in tamoxifen-resistant MCF-7 cells. Endocrinology 144 10321044.
Kramer R & Osborne CK 2004 Tamoxifen versus tamoxifen plus gefitinib in patients with metastatic breast cancer and ER+ and/or PR+ tumours. Signal 5(3) 1820.
Kris MG, Natale RB, Herbst RS, Lynch TJ Jr, Prager D, Belani CP, Schiller JH, Kelly K, Spiridonidis H, Sandler A et al. 2003 Efficacy of gefitinib (ZD1839, IressaTM), an inhibitor of the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase, in symptomatic patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Journal of the American Medical Association 290 21492158.
Lee JW, Soung YH, Kim SY, Park WS, Nam SW, Lee JY, Yoo NJ & Lee SH 2005 Absence of EGFR mutation in the kinase domain in human cancers besides non-small cell lung cancer. International Journal of Cancer 113 510511.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
Lynch TJ, Bell DW, Sordella R, Gurubhagavatula S, Okimoto RA, Brannigan BW, Harris P, Haserlat SM, Supko JG, Haluska FG et al. 2004 Activating mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor underlying responsiveness of non-small-cell lung cancer to gefitinib. New England Journal of Medicine 350 21292139.
McClelland RA, Barrow D, Madden TA, Dutkowski CM, Pamment J, Knowlden JM, Gee JMW & Nicholson RI 2001 Enhanced epidermal growth factor receptor signalling in MCF7 breast cancer cells after long-term culture in the presence of the pure antiestrogen ICI 182,780 (Faslodex). Endocrinology 142 27762788.
Nicholson RI, Gee JMW & Harper ME 2001 EGFR and cancer prognosis. European Journal of Cancer 37 S9S15.[Web of Science][Medline]
Nicholson RI, Jones HE & Gee JMW 2004 EGFR inhibitors in breast cancer. Signal 5 913.
Paez JG, Jänne PA, Lee JC, Tracy S, Greulich H, Gabriel S, Herman P, Kaye FJ, Lindemann N, Boggon TJ et al. 2004 EGFR mutations in lung cancer: correlation with clinical response to gefitinib therapy. Science 304 14971500.
Parra HS, Cavina R, Latteri F, Zucali PA, Campagnoli E, Mornghi E, Grimaldi GC, Roncalli M & Santoro A 2004 Analysis of epidermal growth factor receptor expression as a predictive factor for response to gefitinib (Iressa, ZD1839) in non-small-cell lung cancer. British Journal of Cancer 91 208212.[Web of Science][Medline]
Sainsbury JRC, Malcolm AJ, Appleton DR, Farndon JR & Harris AL 1985 Presence of epidermal growth factor receptor as an indicator of poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Pathology 38 12251228.
Salomon DS, Brandt R, Ciardiello F & Normanno N 1995 Epidermal growth factor-related peptides and their receptors in human malignancies. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Haematology 19 183232.
Shou J, Massarweh S, Osborne CK, Wakeling AE, Alai S, Weiss H & Schiff R 2004 Mechanisms of tamoxifen resistance; increased estrogen receptor-HER2/neu cross-talk in ER/HER2-positive breast cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 96 926935.
Slamon DJ 2004 The future of ErbB-1 and ErbB-2 pathway inhibition in breast cancer: targeting multiple receptors. The Oncologist 9 (Suppl 3) 13.
Slamon DJ, Clark GM, Wong SG, Levin WJ, Ullrich A & McGuire WL 1987 Human breast cancer: correlation of relapse and survival with amplification of the HER-2/neu oncogene. Science 235 177182.
Stephens TC, Wardleworth MJ, Matusiak ZS, Ashton SE, Hancox UJ, Bate M, Ferguson R & Boyle T 2003 AZD3409, a novel, oral, prenyl transferase inhibitor with promising preclinical antitumour activity. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research 44 (970) Abs 4870.
Wakeling AE 2005 Discovery and development of Iressa: the first in a new class of drugs targeted at the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase. In Inhibitors of Protein Kinases and Protein Phosphatases Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology 167 pp 433450. Eds LA Pinna & PTW Cohen. Berlin: Springer.
Wakeling AE, Barker AJ, Davies DH, Brown DS, Green LR, Cartlidge SA & Woodburn J 1996 Specific inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase by 4-anilinoquinazolines. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 38 6773.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
Wakeling AE, Guy S, Woodburn JR, Ashton SE, Curry B, Barker AJ & Gibson K 2002 ZD1839 (Iressa): an orally active inhibitor of epidermal growth factor signalling with potential for cancer therapy. Cancer Research 62 57495754.
Wallace E, Yeh T, Lyssikatos J et al. 2004 Preclinical development of ARRY-142886, a potent and selective MEK inhibitor. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Abs 3890.
Ward WHJ, Cook PN, Slater AM, Davies DH, Holdgate GA & Green LR 1994 Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase. Investigation of catalytic mechanism, structure-based searching and discovery of a potent inhibitor. Biochemical Pharmacology 48 659666.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
Yano S, Kondo K, Yamaguchi M, Richmond G, Hutchison M, Wakeling AE, Averbuch S & Wadsworth P 2003 Distribution and function of EGFR in human tissue and the effect of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibition. Anticancer Research 23 36393650.[Web of Science][Medline]
Yarden Y & Sliwkowski MX 2001 Untangling the ErbB signalling network. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 2 127137.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
Yezhelyev MV, Koehl G, Guba M, Brabletz T, Jauch K-W, Ryan A, Barge A, Green TP, Fennell M & Bruns CJ 2004 Inhibition of Src tyrosine kinase as treatment for human pancreatic cancer growing orthotopically in nude mice. Clinical Cancer Research 10 80288036.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
N. Normanno, A. Morabito, A. De Luca, M. C. Piccirillo, M. Gallo, M. R Maiello, and F. Perrone Target-based therapies in breast cancer: current status and future perspectives Endocr. Relat. Cancer, September 1, 2009; 16(3): 675 - 702. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
U. B. McGovern, R. E. Francis, B. Peck, S. K. Guest, J. Wang, S. S. Myatt, J. Krol, J. M-M. Kwok, A. Polychronis, R. C. Coombes, et al. Gefitinib (Iressa) represses FOXM1 expression via FOXO3a in breast cancer Mol. Cancer Ther., March 1, 2009; 8(3): 582 - 591. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C. E. Ducker, L. K. Griffel, R. A. Smith, S. N. Keller, Y. Zhuang, Z. Xia, J. D. Diller, and C. D. Smith Discovery and characterization of inhibitors of human palmitoyl acyltransferases. Mol. Cancer Ther., July 1, 2006; 5(7): 1647 - 1659. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J M W Gee, A Howell, W J Gullick, C C Benz, R L Sutherland, R J Santen, L-A Martin, F Ciardiello, W R Miller, M Dowsett, et al. Consensus Statement Endocr. Relat. Cancer, July 1, 2005; 12(Supplement_1): S1 - S7. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |