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Effect of selumetinib on the growth of anastrozole-resistant tumors

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Abstract

Despite significant improvement in the treatment outcome of hormone responsive postmenopausal breast cancer, some patients eventually acquire resistance to aromatase inhibitors (AIs). Using our MCF-7Ca xenograft model, we observed that although AIs such as anastrozole initially inhibit tumor growth effectively, tumors eventually began to grow. Our previous data show that anastrozole-resistant tumors upregulate growth factor receptor pathways as they adapt to grow in the low estrogen environment. Therefore, in the current study, we investigated the effect of inhibiting the growth factor receptor pathways with a MEK-1/2 inhibitor selumetinib (AZD6244, ARRY-142866). We treated the mice with anastrozole-resistant tumors with selumetinib alone or in combination with anastrozole. MCF-7Ca cells were inoculated sc into ovariectomized athymic nude mice supplemented throughout the experiment with androstenedione (100 μg/day), the substrate for aromatase conversion to estrogen. Once the tumors reached a measurable size (~300 mm3), the mice were treated with anastrozole (200 μg/day), supplemented with androstenedione (Δ4A). The tumors in the anastrozole group doubled in volume after 6 weeks, at which time the animals were regrouped to receive the following treatments: (i) anastrozole, (ii) anastrozole withdrawal (Δ4A alone), (iii) selumetinib (25 mg/kg/d, bid, po), and (iv) selumetinib + anastrozole, (n = 10 mice/group). The treatments were given for 6 weeks (till week 12) and then the mice were euthanized, the tumors were collected and analyzed. The tumors of mice treated with selumetinib + anastrozole had significantly lower growth rates than those treated with single agents (p = 0.008). Western blot analysis of the tumors showed that treatment with anastrozole resulted in upregulation of proteins in the growth factor receptor cascade such as p-mTOR, pAkt, pMEK, and pMAPK. This was accompanied by downregulation of ERα protein, consistent with previous findings. The treatment of mice with selumetinib resulted in downregulation of activated MAPK, along with p-mTOR, which likely resulted in upregulation of ERα. Our results suggest that inhibition of the growth factor receptor pathway with selumetinib can reverse anastrozole resistance.

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Abbreviations

ERα:

Estrogen receptor alpha

CYP-19:

Aromatase

E2 :

17β-Estradiol

Δ4A:

3,17-Androstenedione

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants to G Sabnis (KG10037 from Susan G Komen) and to A. Brodie (CA-62483 from NCI/NIH and SAC100010 from Susan G Komen). Astra-Zeneca also provided financial support for the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, 685 W. Baltimore St, HSF-I, Room 580G, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA

    Gauri J. Sabnis, Armina Kazi, Preeti Shah & Angela Brodie

  2. Division of Biostatistics, University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA

    Olga Golubeva

  3. Loyola University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Armina Kazi

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  1. Gauri J. Sabnis
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  2. Armina Kazi
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  3. Olga Golubeva
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  4. Preeti Shah
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  5. Angela Brodie
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Correspondence to Angela Brodie.

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Sabnis, G.J., Kazi, A., Golubeva, O. et al. Effect of selumetinib on the growth of anastrozole-resistant tumors. Breast Cancer Res Treat 138, 699–708 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-013-2474-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-013-2474-5

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