Assessment of Resistance Mechanisms and Clinical Implications in Patients with KRAS Mutated-Metastatic Breast Cancer and Resistance to CDK4/6 Inhibitors

Abstract

Despite therapeutic improvements, resistance to palbociclib is a growing clinical challenge which is poorly understood. This study was conducted in order to understand the molecular mechanisms of resistance to palbociclib, and to identify biomarkers to predict who will take advantage from cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i). A total of about a thousand blood samples were collected from 106 patients with hormone receptor positive (HR+) human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative metastatic breast cancer who received palbociclib in combination with fulvestrant as the first-line metastatic therapy enrolled in this study. The genotyping of their plasma cell-free DNA was studied, including serial plasma samples. Collectively, our findings identify the appearance of KRAS mutations leading to palbociclib resistance acquisition within 6 months, and provide critical information for the prediction of therapeutic responses in metastatic breast cancer. By monitoring KRAS status through liquid biopsy, we could predict who will take advantage from the combination of palbociclib and fulvestrant, offering highly-individualized treatment plans, thus ensuring the best patient quality of life.

Keywords

• metastatic breast cancer
• targeted therapy
• KRAS
• CDK4/6 inhibitors
• liquid biopsy
• ddPCR