Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Nectin-4: a Tumor Cell Target and Status of Inhibitor Development

  • EVOLVING THERAPIES (RM BUKOWSKI, SECTION EDITOR)
  • Published:
Current Oncology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

This study aims to gather the current state of the literature about anti-Nectin-4 innovative associations in solid tumors and to investigate underlying resistance mechanisms.

Recent Findings

Antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) targeting Nectin-4 efficacy gained attention and offers a promising association with other antineoplastic drugs especially in urothelial carcinoma. The heterogeneity of Nectin-4 expression across the molecular subtypes was highlighted especially in urothelial cancers. A unique study using preclinical models demonstrated an upregulation of P-gp expression, which may explain the anti-Nectin-4 resistance mechanisms.

Summary

Further studies are urgently needed to understand anti-Nectin-4 sensitivity and resistance phenomenon. The growing therapeutic associations of enfortumab vedotin offer optimistic opportunities in management and treatment of wide range of solid tumors including rare aggressive malignancies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

Data are available if reasonably requested.

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

  1. Heath EI, Rosenberg JE. The biology and rationale of targeting nectin-4 in urothelial carcinoma. Nat Rev Urol. 2021;18:93–103.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Research C for DE and. FDA grants accelerated approval to enfortumab vedotin-ejfv for metastatic urothelial cancer. FDA [Internet]. FDA; 2019 [cited 2022 Sep 28]; Available from: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/resources-information-approved-drugs/fda-grants-accelerated-approval-enfortumab-vedotin-ejfv-metastatic-urothelial-cancer

  3. Fabre S, Reymond N, Cocchi F, Menotti L, Dubreuil P, Campadelli-Fiume G, et al. Prominent role of the Ig-like V domain in trans-interactions of nectins. Nectin3 and nectin 4 bind to the predicted C-C’-C"-D beta-strands of the nectin1 V domain. J Biol Chem. 2002;277:27006–13.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Reymond N, Fabre S, Lecocq E, Adelaïde J, Dubreuil P, Lopez M. Nectin4/PRR4, a new afadin-associated member of the nectin family that trans-interacts with nectin1/PRR1 through V domain interaction. J Biol Chem. 2001;276:43205–15.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. DeRycke MS, Pambuccian SE, Gilks CB, Kalloger SE, Ghidouche A, Lopez M, et al. Nectin 4 overexpression in ovarian cancer tissues and serum. Am J Clin Pathol. 2010;134:835–45.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Takano A, Ishikawa N, Nishino R, Masuda K, Yasui W, Inai K, et al. Identification of nectin-4 oncoprotein as a diagnostic and therapeutic target for lung cancer. Cancer Res. 2009;69:6694–703.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Fabre-Lafay S, Monville F, Garrido-Urbani S, Berruyer-Pouyet C, Ginestier C, Reymond N, et al. Nectin-4 is a new histological and serological tumor associated marker for breast cancer. BMC Cancer. 2007;7:73.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Deng H, Shi H, Chen L, Zhou Y, Jiang J. Over-expression of Nectin-4 promotes progression of esophageal cancer and correlates with poor prognosis of the patients. Cancer Cell Int. 2019;19:106.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Nishiwada S, Sho M, Yasuda S, Shimada K, Yamato I, Akahori T, et al. Nectin-4 expression contributes to tumor proliferation, angiogenesis and patient prognosis in human pancreatic cancer. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2015;34:30.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Bouleftour W, Guillot A, Magne N. The Anti-Nectin 4: a promising tumor cells target A systematic review. Mol Cancer Ther. 2022;21:493–501.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. • Tanaka Y, Murata M, Tanegashima K, Oda Y, Ito T. Nectin cell adhesion molecule 4 regulates angiogenesis through Src signaling and serves as a novel therapeutic target in angiosarcoma. Sci Rep. 2022;12:4031. This study reported for the first time an expression of Nectin-4 in angiosarcoma and the regulation of angiogenesis by Nectin-4 through Src signaling pathway.

  12. • Liu Y, Li G, Zhang Y, Li L, Zhang Y, Huang X, et al. Nectin-4 promotes osteosarcoma progression and metastasis through activating PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling by down-regulation of miR-520c-3p. Cancer Cell Int. 2022;22:252. This study reported for the first time an upregulation of Nectin-4 is osteosarcoma and the down regulation of miR-520c-3p involved in tumor progression and metastasis.

  13. • Toda S, Sato S, Saito N, Sekihara K, Matsui A, Murayama D, et al. TROP-2, Nectin-4, GPNMB, and B7-H3 are potentially therapeutic targets for anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Cancers (Basel). 2022;14:579. This study demonstrated Nectin-4 increased expression in de novo anaplastic thyroid carcinoma.

  14. • Hao R-T, Zheng C, Wu C-Y, Xia E-J, Zhou X-F, Quan R-D, et al. NECTIN4 promotes papillary thyroid cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and triggers EMT by activating AKT. Cancer Manag Res. 2019;11:2565–78. This study reported the pathway explaining the role of Nectin-4 in in proliferation, migration and invasion of papillary thyroid cancer cells.

  15. Buchanan PC, Boylan KLM, Walcheck B, Heinze R, Geller MA, Argenta PA, et al. Ectodomain shedding of the cell adhesion molecule Nectin-4 in ovarian cancer is mediated by ADAM10 and ADAM17. J Biol Chem. 2017;292:6339–51.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Housman G, Byler S, Heerboth S, Lapinska K, Longacre M, Snyder N, et al. Drug resistance in cancer: an overview. Cancers (Basel). 2014;6:1769–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Loganzo F, Sung M, Gerber H-P. Mechanisms of resistance to antibody-drug conjugates. Mol Cancer Ther. 2016;15:2825–34.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. •• Hoffman-Censits JH, Lombardo KA, Parimi V, Kamanda S, Choi W, Hahn NM, et al. Expression of Nectin-4 in bladder urothelial carcinoma, in morphologic variants, and nonurothelial histotypes. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol. 2021. This study demonstrated Nectin-4 heterogeneity in urothelial carcinoma. Nectin-4 expression could be a marker for patient selection and enfortumab vedotin sensitivity.

  19. Zhang Y, Liu S, Wang L, Wu Y, Hao J, Wang Z, et al. A novel PI3K/AKT signaling axis mediates Nectin-4-induced gallbladder cancer cell proliferation, metastasis and tumor growth. Cancer Lett. 2016;375:179–89.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Zhang Y, Chen P, Yin W, Ji Y, Shen Q, Ni Q. Nectin-4 promotes gastric cancer progression via the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Hum Pathol. 2018;72:107–16.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Pavlova NN, Pallasch C, Elia AEH, Braun CJ, Westbrook TF, Hemann M, et al. A role for PVRL4-driven cell-cell interactions in tumorigenesis. Elife. 2013;2:e00358.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Wang L, Yang M, Guo X, Yang Z, Liu S, Ji Y, et al. Estrogen-related receptor-α promotes gallbladder cancer development by enhancing the transcription of Nectin-4. Cancer Sci. 2020;111:1514–27.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Siddharth S, Goutam K, Das S, Nayak A, Nayak D, Sethy C, et al. Nectin-4 is a breast cancer stem cell marker that induces WNT/β-catenin signaling via Pi3k/Akt axis. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2017;89:85–94.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Kedashiro S, Kameyama T, Mizutani K, Takai Y. Nectin-4 and p95-ErbB2 cooperatively regulate Hippo signaling-dependent SOX2 gene expression, enhancing anchorage-independent T47D cell proliferation. Sci Rep. 2021;11:7344.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Siddharth S, Nayak A, Das S, Nayak D, Panda J, Wyatt MD, et al. The soluble nectin-4 ecto-domain promotes breast cancer induced angiogenesis via endothelial Integrin-β4. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2018;102:151–60.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Chatterjee S, Kundu CN. Nanoformulated quinacrine regulates NECTIN-4 domain specific functions in cervical cancer stem cells. Eur J Pharmacol. 2020;883:173308.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Nayak A, Das S, Nayak D, Sethy C, Narayan S, Kundu CN. Nanoquinacrine sensitizes 5-FU-resistant cervical cancer stem-like cells by down-regulating Nectin-4 via ADAM-17 mediated NOTCH deregulation. Cell Oncol (Dordr). 2019;42:157–71.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Chatterjee S, Sinha S, Molla S, Hembram KC, Kundu CN. PARP inhibitor Veliparib (ABT-888) enhances the anti-angiogenic potentiality of Curcumin through deregulation of NECTIN-4 in oral cancer: role of nitric oxide (NO). Cell Signal. 2021;80:109902.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Sethy C, Goutam K, Das B, Dash SR, Kundu CN. Nectin-4 promotes lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic metastasis in breast cancer by regulating CXCR4-LYVE-1 axis. Vascul Pharmacol. 2021;106865.

  30. Rosenberg JE, O’Donnell PH, Balar AV, McGregor BA, Heath EI, Yu EY, et al. Pivotal trial of enfortumab vedotin in urothelial carcinoma after platinum and anti-programmed death 1/programmed death ligand 1 therapy. J Clin Oncol. 2019;37:2592–600.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Balar AV, McGregor BA, Rosenberg JE, Van Der Heijden MS, Park SH, Lee J-L, et al. EV-201 Cohort 2: enfortumab vedotin in cisplatin-ineligible patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who received prior PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. JCO Wolters Kluwer. 2021;39:394–394.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Matsubara N, Yonese J, Kojima T, Azuma H, Matsumoto H, Powles T, et al. Japanese subgroup analysis of EV-301: an open-label, randomized phase 3 study to evaluate enfortumab vedotin versus chemotherapy in subjects with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Cancer Med. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.5165.

  33. Powles T, Rosenberg JE, Sonpavde GP, Loriot Y, Durán I, Lee J-L, et al. Enfortumab vedotin in previously treated advanced urothelial carcinoma. N Engl J Med. 2021;384:1125–35.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. •• Chu CE, Sjöström M, Egusa EA, Gibb EA, Badura ML, Zhu J, et al. Heterogeneity in NECTIN4 expression across molecular subtypes of urothelial cancer mediates sensitivity to enfortumab vedotin. Clin Cancer Res. 2021;clincanres.4175.2020. This study demonstrated Nectin-4 heterogeneity in urothelial carcinoma. Nectin-4 expression could be a marker for patient selection and enfortumab vedotin sensitivity.

  35. •• Garczyk S, Degener S, Bischoff F, Schnitzler T, Salz A, Golz R, et al. Heterogenous NECTIN4 expression in urothelial high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Virchows Arch. 2022;481:83–92. This study demonstrated Nectin-4 heterogeneity in high-grade non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, which is a population with limited treatment option.

  36. •• Cabaud O, Berger L, Crompot E, Adélaide J, Finetti P, Garnier S, et al. Overcoming resistance to anti-Nectin-4 antibody-drug conjugate. Mol Cancer Ther. 2022;21:1227–35. The first study investigating the mechanism of Enfortumab Vedotin resistance through a an elegant preclinical model.

  37. Tomiyama E, Fujita K, Rodriguez Pena MDC, Taheri D, Banno E, Kato T, et al. Expression of Nectin-4 and PD-L1 in upper tract urothelial carcinoma. Int J Mol Sci. 2020;21:E5390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. El-Osta H, Falchook G, Tsimberidou A, Hong D, Naing A, Kim K, et al. BRAF mutations in advanced cancers: clinical characteristics and outcomes. PLoS One. 2011;6:e25806.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  39. Tanaka Y, Murata M, Shen C-H, Furue M, Ito T. NECTIN4: a novel therapeutic target for melanoma. Int J Mol Sci. 2021;22:976.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Jaiswal PK, Goel A, Mittal RD. Survivin: a molecular biomarker in cancer. Indian J Med Res. 2015;141:389–97.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  41. Athanassiadou AM, Patsouris E, Tsipis A, Gonidi M, Athanassiadou P. The significance of Survivin and Nectin-4 expression in the prognosis of breast carcinoma. Folia Histochem Cytobiol. 2011;49:26–33.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Li P, Hou F, Wang S, Luo N, Qi Y, Wang Y. A novel NECTIN4-NTRK1 fusion identified in a lung squamous cell carcinoma patient with MSI-H. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2021;147:2483–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. • Calandrella ML, Francesconi S, Caprera C, Mosillo C, Caserta C, Giannarelli D, et al. Nectin-4 and DNA mismatch repair proteins expression in upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) as a model for tumor targeting approaches: an ImGO pilot study. BMC Cancer. 2022;22:168. This pilot study demonstrated a potential correlation between Nectin-4 and DNA MMR, which can be developed as a predictive tool for immunotherapy and Enfortumab Vedotin combination.

  44. Campbell DO, Noda A, Verlinsky A, Snyder J, Fujita Y, Murakami Y, et al. Preclinical evaluation of an anti-Nectin-4 ImmunoPET reagent in tumor-bearing mice and biodistribution studies in cynomolgus monkeys. Mol Imaging Biol. 2016;18:768–75.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Shao F, Pan Z, Long Y, Zhu Z, Wang K, Ji H, et al. Nectin-4-targeted immunoSPECT/CT imaging and photothermal therapy of triple-negative breast cancer. J Nanobiotechnology. 2022;20:243.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Amagai Y, Fujiyuki T, Yoneda M, Shoji K, Furukawa Y, Sato H, et al. Oncolytic activity of a recombinant measles virus, blind to signaling lymphocyte activation molecule, against colorectal cancer cells. Sci Rep. 2016;6:24572.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Awano M, Fujiyuki T, Shoji K, Amagai Y, Murakami Y, Furukawa Y, et al. Measles virus selectively blind to signaling lymphocyte activity molecule has oncolytic efficacy against nectin-4-expressing pancreatic cancer cells. Cancer Sci. 2016;107:1647–52.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  48. Fujiyuki T, Amagai Y, Shoji K, Kuraishi T, Sugai A, Awano M, et al. Recombinant SLAMblind measles virus is a promising candidate for Nectin-4-positive triple negative breast cancer therapy. Mol Ther-Oncolytics Elsevier. 2020;19:127–35.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Tanaka Y, Murata M, Oda Y, Furue M, Ito T. Nectin cell adhesion molecule 4 (NECTIN4) expression in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: a new therapeutic target? Biomedicines. 2021;9:355.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  50. Gulhane P, Nimsarkar P, Kharat K, Singh S. Deciphering miR-520c-3p as a probable target for immunometabolism in non-small cell lung cancer using systems biology approach. Oncotarget. 2022;13:725–46.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  51. Li X, Fu Q, Li H, Zhu L, Chen W, Ruan T, et al. MicroRNA-520c-3p functions as a novel tumor suppressor in lung adenocarcinoma. FEBS J. 2019;286:2737–52.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicolas Magne.

Ethics declarations

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

Not applicable.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is part of the Topical collection on Evolving Therapies

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bouleftour, W., Sargos, P. & Magne, N. Nectin-4: a Tumor Cell Target and Status of Inhibitor Development. Curr Oncol Rep 25, 181–188 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-023-01360-1

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-023-01360-1

Keywords

Navigation