Cited by 479Lung Cancer Treatments and MutationsCancer Genomics and DiagnosticsProtein Kinase Regulation and GTPase Signaling

Diverse alterations associated with resistance to KRAS(G12C) inhibition

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Zhao, Yulei, Murciano-Goroff, Yonina R., Xue, Jenny Y., Ang, Agnes, Lucas, Jessica, Mai, Trang T., Da Cruz Paula, Arnaud F., Saiki, Anne Y. +20 more·2021·Nature

Abstract

Inactive state-selective KRAS(G12C) inhibitors 1-8 demonstrate a 30-40% response rate and result in approximately 6-month median progression-free survival in patients with lung cancer 9. The genetic basis for resistance to these first-in-class mutant GTPase inhibitors remains under investigation. Here we evaluated matched pre-treatment and post-treatment specimens from 43 patients treated with the KRAS(G12C) inhibitor sotorasib. Multiple treatment-emergent alterations were observed across 27 patients, including alterations in KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, EGFR, FGFR2, MYC and other genes. In preclinical patient-derived xenograft and cell line models, resistance to KRAS(G12C) inhibition was associated with low allele frequency hotspot mutations in KRAS(G12V or G13D), NRAS(Q61K or G13R), MRAS(Q71R) and/or BRAF(G596R), mirroring observations in patients. Single-cell sequencing in an isogenic lineage identified secondary RAS and/or BRAF mutations in the same cells as KRAS(G12C), where they bypassed inhibition without affecting target inactivation. Genetic or pharmacological targeting of ERK signalling intermediates enhanced the antiproliferative effect of G12C inhibitor treatment in models with acquired RAS or BRAF mutations. Our study thus suggests a heterogenous pattern of resistance with multiple subclonal events emerging during G12C inhibitor treatment. A subset of patients in our cohort acquired oncogenic KRAS, NRAS or BRAF mutations, and resistance in this setting may be delayed by co-targeting of ERK signalling intermediates. These findings merit broader evaluation in prospective clinical trials.

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Crossref · 10.1038/s41586-021-04065-2

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  • Intrinsic and acquired resistance to sotorasib and adagrasib has been reported in preclinical studies and clinical trials.

    “The discovery of KRAS G12C inhibitors raises great excitement; nevertheless, intrinsic and acquired resistance to sotorasib and adagrasib has been reported in preclinical studies and clinical trials (8–10).”

    From YAP/TAZ mediates resistance to KRAS inhibitors through inhibiting proapoptosis and activating the SLC7A5/mTOR axis (2024) · cites this paper as [9]

    The paper reports treatment-emergent alterations in patients treated with sotorasib (Abstract; no page given) and acquired resistance to both sotorasib and adagrasib in preclinical models (Methods and Extended Data; no pages given). It also notes baseline KRAS amplification in models with weaker treatment responses. It does not report clinical resistance to adagrasib, so the claim is broader than this source supports. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Resistance to KRAS G12C inhibitors can arise from additional mutations in KRAS or other RAS pathway genes, non-mutational activation of bypass signaling pathways such as MAPK or PI3K, and remodeling of the tumor microenvironment.

    “It is believed that this resistance can arise from a variety of mechanisms, including the emergence of additional mutations in KRAS or other genes involved in the RAS pathway, non-mutational activation of bypass signaling pathways such as the MAPK or PI3K pathways, and diverse remodeling of the tumor microenvironment (8–10).”

    From YAP/TAZ mediates resistance to KRAS inhibitors through inhibiting proapoptosis and activating the SLC7A5/mTOR axis (2024) · cites this paper as [9]

    The paper reports treatment-emergent KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF mutations and shows that secondary RAS mutations can bypass KRAS(G12C) inhibition by reactivating ERK signaling (Abstract; page unavailable). It does not establish the claimed non-mutational activation of MAPK or PI3K bypass pathways or tumor-microenvironment remodeling as resistance mechanisms. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Acquired mutations of NRAS, BRAF, RTK, and MYC were found in patients treated with sotorasib or adagrasib monotherapy.

    “Acquired mutations of NRAS, BRAF, RTK, and MYC were also found in patients treated with sotorasib or adagrasib monotherapy [49, 51, 53, 54].”

    From Differential Response and Resistance to KRAS-Targeted Therapy (2025) · cites this paper as [51]

    The clinical-results passage (indexed under Abstract; page unavailable) reports treatment-emergent NRAS and BRAF mutations and EGFR and FGFR2 alterations in patients treated with sotorasib. It identifies the MYC alteration as amplification, not a mutation. The Patient specimens section describes a sotorasib-treated cohort; adagrasib was tested in models, not in this patient cohort. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Amplifications or gene fusions of MET, EGFR, FGFR2, FGFR3, and ALK have been detected in patients with acquired resistance to sotorasib and adagrasib monotherapy.

    “Amplifications or gene fusions of MET, EGFR, FGFR2, FGFR3, and ALK have been detected in patients with acquired resistance to sotorasib and adagrasib monotherapy [49, 51].”

    From Differential Response and Resistance to KRAS-Targeted Therapy (2025) · cites this paper as [51]

    The clinical-results passage (indexed under Abstract; page unavailable) reports treatment-emergent MET, EGFR, and FGFR2 amplifications in patients treated with sotorasib. It does not report FGFR3 or ALK amplifications or gene fusions in those patients. The Methods: Patient specimens section specifies sotorasib treatment; adagrasib appears in the supplied passages only in preclinical models, not the patient cohort. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Expression of the identified KRAS mutants was sufficient to confer resistance to KRAS G12C inhibitors in KRAS G12C cancer cells.

    “Expression of the identified KRAS mutants was sufficient to confer resistance to KRAS G12C inhibitors in KRAS G12C cancer cells [49, 51, 60].”

    From Differential Response and Resistance to KRAS-Targeted Therapy (2025) · cites this paper as [51]

    The passage on inducible expression (section labeled Abstract; page unavailable) reports that expressing KRAS(G12V) in H358 cells attenuated the antiproliferative effects of sotorasib and adagrasib. The paper also identifies KRAS(G13D), but the cited passage does not show that its expression was tested for sufficiency. Thus, the evidence supports the claim for one identified KRAS mutant, not the plural claim as written. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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1 of the 31 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

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  1. [15]Jänne PA, R. I., Spira AI, Riely GJ, Papadopoulos KP, Sabari JK, Johnson ML, Heist RS, Bazhenova L, Barve M, Pacheco JM, Leal TA, Velastegui K, Conrelius C, Plson P, Christensen JG, Kheoh T, Chao RC, Ou SHI. in 2020 EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium

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Authors
Zhao, Y., Murciano-Goroff, Y. R., Xue, J. Y., Ang, A., Lucas, J., Mai, T. T., Da Cruz Paula, A. F., Saiki, A. Y., Mohn, D., Achanta, P., Sisk, A. E., Arora, K. S., Roy, R. S., Kim, D., Li, C., Lim, L. P., Li, M., Bahr, A., Loomis, B. R., de Stanchina, E., Reis-Filho, J. S., Weigelt, B., Berger, M., Riely, G., Arbour, K. C., Lipford, J. R., Li, B. T., & Lito, P.
Affiliations
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
  • Amgen (United States) (US)
Corresponding author
Lito, Piro
Venue
Nature
Published
2021-11-10
Volume
599
Issue
7886
Pages
679-683
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W3212888956
Cited by
479
References
31
Citations by year
2026: 95 · 2025: 90 · 2024: 127 · 2023: 99 · 2022: 65 · 2021: 3
FWCI
47.87
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (UL1TR000457, U54OD020355, UL1TR001873)
  • National Cancer Institute (R01CA230267, K08CA191082, R01CA087486, F30CA232549, P50CA247749, P30CA008748, R01CA230745)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM007739)
  • National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Lung Cancer Treatments and Mutations
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Kinase Regulation and GTPase Signaling
Keywords
KRAS G12C inhibitors, sotorasib, acquired drug resistance, lung cancer, RAS mutations, BRAF mutation, ERK signaling, subclonal evolution, patient-derived xenografts, single-cell sequencing, KRAS G12V, NRAS Q61K, FGFR2, EGFR, c-Myc
MeSH terms
Acetonitriles, Animals, Antineoplastic Agents, Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung, Cell Line, Female, Humans, Membrane Proteins, Mutation, Neoplasms, Piperazines, Pyridines, Pyrimidines, Cohort Studies, Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras), Drug Resistance, Neoplasm, GTP Phosphohydrolases, MAP Kinase Signaling System, Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays, Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases, Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf, Mice

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