Cited by 944Colorectal Cancer Treatments and StudiesHER2/EGFR in Cancer ResearchLung Cancer Treatments and Mutations

A molecularly annotated platform of patient-derived xenografts (“xenopatients”) identifies HER2 as an effective therapeutic target in cetuximab-resistant colorectal cancer

Open access
Bertotti, Andrea, Migliardi, Giorgia, Galimi, Francesco, Sassi, Francesco, Torti, Davide, Isella, Claudio, Corà, Davide, Di Nicolantonio, Federica +20 more·2011·Cancer Discovery

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

Only a fraction of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer receive clinical benefit from therapy with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies, which calls for the identification of novel biomarkers for better personalized medicine. We produced large xenograft cohorts from 85 patient-derived, genetically characterized metastatic colorectal cancer samples (“xenopatients”) to discover novel determinants of therapeutic response and new oncoprotein targets. Serially passaged tumors retained the morphologic and genomic features of their original counterparts. A validation trial confirmed the robustness of this approach: xenopatients responded to the anti-EGFR antibody cetuximab with rates and extents analogous to those observed in the clinic and could be prospectively stratified as responders or nonresponders on the basis of several predictive biomarkers. Genotype–response correlations indicated HER2 amplification specifically in a subset of cetuximab-resistant, KRAS/NRAS/BRAF/PIK3CA wild-type cases. Importantly, HER2 amplification was also enriched in clinically nonresponsive KRAS wild-type patients. A proof-of-concept, multiarm study in HER2-amplified xenopatients revealed that the combined inhibition of HER2 and EGFR induced overt, long-lasting tumor regression. Our results suggest promising therapeutic opportunities in cetuximab-resistant patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, whose medical treatment in the chemorefractory setting remains an unmet clinical need. Significance: Direct transfer xenografts of tumor surgical specimens conserve the interindividual diversity and the genetic heterogeneity typical of the tumors of origin, combining the flexibility of preclinical analysis with the informative value of population-based studies. Our suite of patient-derived xenografts from metastatic colorectal carcinomas reliably mimicked disease response in humans, prospectively recapitulated biomarker-based case stratification, and identified HER2 as a predictor of resistance to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibodies and of response to combination therapies against HER2 and epidermal growth factor receptor in this tumor setting. Cancer Discovery; 1(6); 508–23. ©2011 AACR. Read the Commentary on this article by Ciardiello and Normanno, p. 472 This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 457

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1158/2159-8290.cd-11-0109

Cites

55 of 55 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • HER2 overexpression is a negative predictor associated with reduced efficacy of anti-EGFR therapy, and >36% of cetuximab-resistant mCRC with wild-type KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, and PI3K was found to display HER2 overexpression.

    “HER2 overexpression is a negative predictor associated with reduced efficacy of anti-EGFR therapy [31], and >36% of cetuximab-resistant mCRC with wild-type KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, and PI3K was found to display HER2 overexpression [32].”
  • HER2 gene amplification or activating mutations can mediate resistance to anti-EGFR mAbs in CRC.

    “A series of studies have demonstrated that HER2 gene amplification or activating mutations can mediate resistance to anti-EGFR mAbs in CRC [27,178,179].”
  • Preclinical studies have shown that the combination of HER2 and EGFR blockade can lead to CRC tumor regression.

    “Preclinical studies have shown that the combination of HER2 and EGFR blockade can lead to CRC tumor regression [27,28,29].”
  • HER2 amplification is a predictor of poor sensitivity to anti-EGFR antibodies.

    “Two independent studies have recently shown that HER2 amplification is a predictor of poor sensitivity to anti-EGFR antibodies [91, 92].”
  • Patients with tumors featuring HER2 amplification or heregulin overexpression and treated with cetuximab or panitumumab experienced disease progression and shorter progression-free and overall survival compared with HER2 wild-type cases.

    “In retrospective studies, patients with tumors featuring HER2 amplification or heregulin overexpression and treated with cetuximab or panitumumab experienced disease progression and shorter progression-free and overall survival compared with HER2 wild-type cases [91-93].”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 56 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Bertotti, A., Migliardi, G., Galimi, F., Sassi, F., Torti, D., Isella, C., Corà, D., Di Nicolantonio, F., Buscarino, M., Petti, C., Ribero, D., Russolillo, N., Muratore, A., Massucco, P., Pisacane, A., Molinaro, L., Valtorta, E., Sartore-Bianchi, A., Risio, M., Capussotti, L., Gambacorta, M., Siena, S., Medico, E., Sapino, A., Marsoni, S., Comoglio, P. M., Bardelli, A., & Trusolino, L.
Affiliations
  • IFOM (IT)
  • Authors' Affiliations: 1Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, 2Laboratory of Oncogenomics, 3Laboratory of Systems Biology, 4Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, 5Division of Surgical Oncology, 6Unit of Pathology, 7Clinical Coordination Unit, and 8Molecular Clinical Oncology, Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment, Torino; Departments of 9Oncological Sciences and 10Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Torino Medical School, Torino; 11Department of Surgery, Mauriziano Umberto I Hospital, Torino; 12FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Milano; 13Division of Pathology, 14Falck Division of Medical Oncology, Ospedale Niguarda Ca' Granda, Milano; and 15Southern Europe New Drug Organization Foundation, Milano, Italy
Venue
Cancer Discovery
Published
2011-11-01
Volume
1
Issue
6
Pages
508-523
ISSN
  • 2159-8274 (ISSN-L)
  • 2159-8290
OpenAlex
W1987443121
Cited by
939
References
56
Citations by year
2026: 24 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 79 · 2022: 72 · 2021: 74 · 2020: 71 · 2019: 86 · 2018: 86 · 2017: 90 · 2016: 71 · 2015: 62 · 2014: 60 · 2013: 48 · 2012: 23
FWCI
21.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
other-oa
Locations
  • Cancer Discovery (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Institutional Research Information System University of Turin (University of Turin) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca
  • Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro
  • Regione Piemonte
  • Genentech
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Colorectal Cancer Treatments and Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › HER2/EGFR in Cancer Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Lung Cancer Treatments and Mutations
Keywords
patient-derived xenografts, metastatic colorectal cancer, cetuximab resistance, HER2 amplification, anti-EGFR therapy, predictive biomarkers, combination therapy, KRAS wild-type, BRAF wild-type, treatment resistance, tumor heterogeneity
MeSH terms
Cetuximab, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Animals, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Female, Humans, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Transgenic, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Biomarkers, Tumor, Colorectal Neoplasms, ras Proteins, Receptor, ErbB-2, Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases, Drug Resistance, Neoplasm, Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays, Mice, Molecular Targeted Therapy, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized, ErbB Receptors

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review