PI3K inhibition overcomes trastuzumab resistance: blockade of ErbB2/ErbB3 is not always enough.
Trastuzumab targets ErbB2 and is used for treating ErbB2-overexpressing breast cancers. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Junttila et al. show that trastuzumab disrupts ligand-independent ErbB2/ErbB3/PI3K complexes and blocks AKT signaling; if PI3K is mutated, complex disruption does not inhibit AKT, which explains why trastuzumab is ineffective in some tumors.
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Maulbeerstrasse 66, CH-4059 Basel, Switzerland. nancy.hynes@fmi.ch
Nancy E
NE
Hynes
Julien H
JH
Dey
D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000235:genetics; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism; D020893:Receptor, ErbB-3 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D000068878:Trastuzumab
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D020893:Receptor, ErbB-3; D000068878:Trastuzumab