Published in

National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 45(116), p. 22730-22736, 2019

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1911385116

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Whole-exome sequencing of cervical carcinomas identifies activating ERBB2 and PIK3CA mutations as targets for combination therapy

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Significance The development of novel, effective treatments for patients with advanced/recurrent cervical cancer remains an unmet medical need. Using whole-exome sequencing, we identified multiple genes with recurrent alterations in cervical cancer, including the ERBB2/PI3K/AKT/mTOR, apoptosis, chromatin remodeling, and cell cycle pathways. Using fully sequenced cell lines and xenografts, we found pan-HER (afatinib/neratinib) and PIK3CA (copanlisib) inhibitors to be active, but only transiently effective in controlling the in vivo growth of PIK3CA-mutated cervical tumor xenografts. In contrast, the combination of irreversible pan-HER kinase and PIK3CA inhibitors was highly synergistic and able to induce durable regression of xenografts harboring derangements in the ERBB2/PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in vivo. These findings suggest a large subset of cervical tumors (>70%) might benefit from existing ERBB2/PIK3CA/AKT/mTOR-targeted drugs.