MAPK Pathway–Targeted Therapies: Care and Management of Unique Toxicities in Patients With Advanced Melanoma

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 699-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista Rubin
Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1942
Author(s):  
Stefania Pizzimenti ◽  
Simone Ribero ◽  
Marie Angele Cucci ◽  
Margherita Grattarola ◽  
Chiara Monge ◽  
...  

Melanoma is a highly aggressive cancer with the poorest prognosis, representing the deadliest form of skin cancer. Activating mutations in BRAF are the most frequent genetic alterations, present in approximately 50% of all melanoma cases. The use of specific inhibitors towards mutant BRAF variants and MEK, a downstream signaling target of BRAF in the MAPK pathway, has significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in advanced melanoma patients carrying BRAF mutations. Nevertheless, despite these improvements, resistance still develops within the first year of therapy in around 50% of patients, which is a significant problem in managing BRAF-mutated advanced melanoma. Understanding these mechanisms is one of the mainstreams of the research on BRAFi/MEKi acquired resistance. Both genetic and epigenetic mechanisms have been described. Moreover, in recent years, oxidative stress has emerged as another major force involved in all the phases of melanoma development, from initiation to progression until the onsets of the metastatic phenotype and chemoresistance, and has thus become a target for therapy. In the present review, we discuss the current knowledge on oxidative stress and its signaling in melanoma, as well as the oxidative stress-related mechanisms in the acquired resistance to targeted therapies.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvie Sauvaigo ◽  
Manel Benkhiat ◽  
Florian Braisaz ◽  
Florence de Fraipont ◽  
Caroline Aspord ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. TPS9599-TPS9599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose A. Lopez-Martin ◽  
Alfonso Berrocal ◽  
María González-Cao

TPS9599 Background: Previous clinical trials have shown that vemurafenib significantly increases PFS and OS in untreated BRAFV600 mutant advanced melanoma patients. Nevertheless, disease progression occurs after a median of 6-7 months since start of vemurafenib. Several mechanisms of acquired resistance to vemurafenib result in reactivation of MAPK pathway. Upfront addition of a MEK inhibitor (MEKi) to vemurafenib delays secondary resistance to BRAFi. The combination of cobimetinib, a MEKi, plus vemurafenib as a continuous administration was approved by FDA in 2,015 in untreated metastatic BRAFV600 advanced melanoma patients based on an increase in PFS and OS achieved in a phase III trial (coBRIM trial). Preclinical models have shown that continuous vemurafenib dosing promotes the clonal expansion of drug-resistant cells, and intermittent dosing could serve to eliminate the fitness advantage of the resistant cells and delay the onset of drug-resistant disease (Das Thakur, Nature 2013). These observations and some clinical case reports support upfront evaluation of alternative dosing regimens of MAPK pathway inhibition. Methods: This is a randomized phase II study to explore the efficacy and safety of two schedules of administration of vemurafenib in combination with cobimetinib (continuous – 28-day cycles with vemurafenib 960 mg PO BID, Days 1-28, and cobimetinib 60 mg PO QD, Days 1-21 – and intermittent – same dose/schedule during first 12 weeks, and then, same doses with the following schedule: vemurafenib 4 weeks on /2 weeks off, and cobimetinib 3 weeks on/ 3 weeks off), in patients with untreated, BRAFV600 mutated, unresectable, measurable (RECIST 1.1), locally advanced or metastatic melanoma. Prior adjuvant immunotherapy is allowed. Primary endpoint is PFS. Secondary endpoints include: OS, ORR, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles and safety. Additional translational research to analyze predictive factors and mechanism of resistance will be explored. The trial is in progress; 56 of up to 116 planned pts have been recruited at the end of December 2016 (enrollment started in June 2015). Clinical trial information: NCT02583516.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i33-i33
Author(s):  
Romain Guiho ◽  
Florian Selt ◽  
Thomas Stone ◽  
Thomas Jacques ◽  
Darren Hargrave ◽  
...  

Abstract Pilocytic astrocytoma (PA, WHO grade I), the most common paediatric brain tumour, is characterized by constitutive activation of the MAPK pathway. PA tumours show a slow growth, without tendency to progress to high-grade malignancies. However, a significant group of patients for whom a total resection is not feasible require additional therapy. The typical proliferative index of a PA, measured by Ki-67 staining, is 1–2%, whereas a large part of the tumour is Ki-67 negative and expresses markers of oncogene-induced senescence (OIS) such as SA-β-Gal positivity and the cell cycle inhibitors p16INK4a (CDKN2A) and p21Cip1 (CDKN1A). Conventional treatments (i.e. chemotherapy) tend to target only proliferative cells and the effect of new molecularly targeted therapies (e.g., MAPK pathway inhibitors) on senescent cells remains unclear. Here, we discuss the opportunities to combine these therapies with new compounds targeting the senescent cells, referred to as senolytics, using three different PA models. (1) Ex vivo culture of human PA tumours (2) Two cell lines: the DKFZ-BT66 PA human cell line, carrying the oncogenic driver KIAA1549:BRAF-fusion, used as a model of OIS; and the proliferative BT40 cell line harbouring the BRAFV600E mutation; (3) In vivo xenograft model induced by orthotopic transplantation of BT40 cells. We have previously shown that OIS cells exhibit an increased sensitivity to senolytic compounds, such as navitoclax, a clinically approved BCL2/XL inhibitor, relative to proliferative controls (Buhl et al, Clin Cancer Res. 2019). Our current research demonstrates that treatments with low doses of chemotherapy (e.g., vinblastine) or MAPK inhibitors (e.g., dabrafenib or trametinib) triggers a therapy-induced senescence response in proliferative cells (e.g., abolished proliferation, SA-β-Gal positivity, SASP production), making these senescent cells sensitive to senolytic compounds, including navitoclax. Together, our research provides a strong rationale supporting the combined use of senolytics with current conventional and targeted therapies against human PA.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 6194
Author(s):  
Prachi Mishra ◽  
Dipranjan Laha ◽  
Robert Grant ◽  
Naris Nilubol

Thyroid cancer is the most common type of endocrine malignancy comprising 2–3% of all cancers, with a constant rise in the incidence rate. The standard first-line treatments for thyroid cancer include surgery and radioactive iodine ablation, and a majority of patients show a good response to these therapies. Despite a better response and outcome, approximately twenty percent of patients develop disease recurrence and distant metastasis. With improved knowledge of molecular dysregulation and biological characteristics of thyroid cancer, the development of new treatment strategies comprising novel targets has accelerated. Biomarker-driven targeted therapies have now emerged as a trend for personalized treatments in patients with advanced cancers, and several multiple receptor kinase inhibitors have entered clinical trials (phase I/II/III) to evaluate their safety and efficacy. Most extensively investigated and clinically approved targeted therapies in thyroid cancer include the tyrosine receptor kinase inhibitors that target antiangiogenic markers, BRAF mutation, PI3K/AKT, and MAPK pathway components. In this review, we focus on the current advances in targeted mono- and combination therapies for various types of thyroid cancer.


Author(s):  
Paolo A. Ascierto ◽  
Keith Flaherty ◽  
Stephanie Goff

Recent years have seen major improvements in survival of patients with advanced melanoma with the advent of various novel systemic immunotherapies and targeted therapies. As our understanding of these agents and their various mechanisms of action improves, even more impressive outcomes are being achieved through use of various combination strategies, including the combining of different immunotherapies with one another as well as with other modalities. However, despite the improved outcomes that have been achieved in advanced melanoma, responses to treatment are heterogeneous and may not always be durable. Additional advances in therapy are required, and several emerging strategies are a focus of interest. These include the investigation of several new immunotherapy and/or targeted therapy combinations, such as checkpoint inhibitors (anti–PD-1/anti–CTLA-4) with other immunotherapies (e.g., indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase [IDO] inhibitors, antilymphocyte activation 3 [anti–LAG-3], histone deacetylase [HDAC] inhibitors, Toll-like receptor 9 [TLR-9] agonists, antiglucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor [anti-GITR], pegylated interleukin-2 [IL-2]), combined targeted therapies (e.g., MEK and CDK4/6 coinhibition), and combined immunotherapy and targeted therapy (e.g., the triplet combination of BRAF/MEK inhibition with anti–PD-1s). The identification of novel therapeutic targets in the MAP kinase pathway also offers opportunities to improve outcomes by overcoming de novo and acquired resistance to BRAF/MEK inhibition (e.g., the development of ERK inhibitors). In addition, adoptive cell transfer, the infusion of large numbers of activated autologous lymphocytes, may have a potential role in patients whose disease has progressed after immunotherapy. Taken together, these new approaches offer further potential to increase systemic treatment options and improve long-term outcomes for patients with advanced melanoma.


2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 727-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Wellbrock

The serine threonine kinases BRAF and MEK [MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase)/ERK (extracellular-signal-regulated kinase) kinase] are major regulators of the ERK/MAPK pathway, which is deregulated in the majority of melanomas. Targeting BRAF is an effective therapy for advanced melanoma, but patients progress due to the development of resistance. This ‘acquired resistance’ is thought to be based on a minority of tumour cell populations that are resistant and will eventually re-establish tumour growth even in the presence of drug. In particular, mutations, amplifications or overexpression of genes encoding regulators of the MAPK pathway can confer this resistance, because it allows the melanoma cells to bypass inhibitor action by stimulating ERK activation through alternative routes. Furthermore, there are mechanisms that produce resistance by enhancing the tolerance of melanoma cells to the cytotoxic effects of the drug. These compensatory mechanisms can activate survival signals in the melanoma cells without reactivating ERK. Besides these cell-autonomous resistance mechanisms, stromal fibroblasts in the tumour microenvironment have been identified as a potential source of resistance, because these cells can produce growth factors that reactivate ERK through paracrine signalling. Understanding and further identifying mechanisms of resistance is crucial for the future treatment of advanced melanoma, because this can inform the design of improved therapies with more durable responses.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e23213-e23213
Author(s):  
Sandip Pravin Patel ◽  
Scott Morris ◽  
Young Kwang Chae ◽  
Jeffrey Melson Clarke

e23213 Background: Overexpression of mRNA provides an oncogenic mechanism, downstream of DNA level changes detected by sequencing, that can be treated with targeted therapies. It is still unknown why a subset of patients experience substantial responses to targeted therapies, while others experience minimal benefit. We hypothesize that the occurrence of multiple mRNA drivers may segment by cancer type in a similar manner to mutation burden. Methods: We examined results from 2088 patients with the 23 most common histologies that had received molecular testing at Paradigm Diagnostics by a panel of 56 mRNA targets, including 21 from the MAPK pathway, 14 from the P53 pathway, and 18 from the PI3K pathway. We calculated RNA turbulence, defined as the number of mRNA overexpressed in each case, as well as the pathway-specific RNA turbulence for the MAPK, PI3K and TP53 pathways. Results: Significant differences in overall and pathway-specific RNA turbulence across cancer types was observed. Colon and rectal cancers had high turbulence in the MAPK and TP53 pathways, with 87% having multiple putative drivers in the MAPK pathway and 29% having multiple drivers in the PI3K pathway. Small cell lung cancer and kidney cancers had high turbulence in the PI3K pathway, with 33% and 39% having multiple RNA drivers respectively. Overall, pancreatic, kidney and colon cancers had the highest turbulence and GIST, melanoma and cholangiocarcinoma had the lowest. There was a slight inverse relationship in tumor type when ranked by mutation burden vs. RNA turbulence Conclusions: RNA turbulence represents a unique mechanism by which to analyze tumors and correlates with disease type. Multiplex diagnostics assaying DNA, RNA, and protein level tumor changes will likely be needed to guide cancer therapeutics.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document