KRAS Genomic Status Predicts the Sensitivity of Ovarian Cancer Cells to Decitabine

ML Stewart, P Tamayo, AJ Wilson, S Wang, YM Chang… - Cancer research, 2015 - AACR
ML Stewart, P Tamayo, AJ Wilson, S Wang, YM Chang, JW Kim, D Khabele, AF Shamji…
Cancer research, 2015AACR
Decitabine, a cancer therapeutic that inhibits DNA methylation, produces variable antitumor
response rates in patients with solid tumors that might be leveraged clinically with
identification of a predictive biomarker. In this study, we profiled the response of human
ovarian, melanoma, and breast cancer cells treated with decitabine, finding that
RAS/MEK/ERK pathway activation and DNMT1 expression correlated with cytotoxic activity.
Further, we showed that KRAS genomic status predicted decitabine sensitivity in low-grade …
Abstract
Decitabine, a cancer therapeutic that inhibits DNA methylation, produces variable antitumor response rates in patients with solid tumors that might be leveraged clinically with identification of a predictive biomarker. In this study, we profiled the response of human ovarian, melanoma, and breast cancer cells treated with decitabine, finding that RAS/MEK/ERK pathway activation and DNMT1 expression correlated with cytotoxic activity. Further, we showed that KRAS genomic status predicted decitabine sensitivity in low-grade and high-grade serous ovarian cancer cells. Pretreatment with decitabine decreased the cytotoxic activity of MEK inhibitors in KRAS-mutant ovarian cancer cells, with reciprocal downregulation of DNMT1 and MEK/ERK phosphorylation. In parallel with these responses, decitabine also upregulated the proapoptotic BCL-2 family member BNIP3, which is known to be regulated by MEK and ERK, and heightened the activity of proapoptotic small-molecule navitoclax, a BCL-2 family inhibitor. In a xenograft model of KRAS-mutant ovarian cancer, combining decitabine and navitoclax heightened antitumor activity beyond administration of either compound alone. Our results define the RAS/MEK/DNMT1 pathway as a determinant of sensitivity to DNA methyltransferase inhibition, specifically implicating KRAS status as a biomarker of drug response in ovarian cancer. Cancer Res; 75(14); 2897–906. ©2015 AACR.
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