title: Circulating microRNA profile predicts disease progression in patients receiving second-line treatment of lapatinib and capecitabine for metastatic pancreatic cancer.
abstract: Patients exhibiting pancreatic cancer possess poor rates of survival. Therefore, the identification of a biomarker that can be measured non-invasively and be used to predict patient outcomes is required for the successful treatment of pancreatic cancer. The present study evaluated serum microRNA (miRNA/miR) profiles in patients exhibiting pancreatic cancer, who were treated with lapatinib and capecitabine in a phase II trial. Serum samples were collected for the measurement of a panel of miRNAs (miR-21, miR-210, miR-221 and miR-7) associated with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)1 and human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)2 pathways. Preclinically, human pancreatic cancer PANC-1, MIA PaCa-2 and BXCP-3 cell lines were utilized for miRNA and drug resistance studies. In total, 6/17 patients treated experienced disease progression following 2 cycles of treatment [non-responders (NRS)], while another 6/17 patients exhibited a stable disease state and received >4 cycles of treatment [responders (RS); range, 4-22 cycles]. Five patients withdrew from the study due to severe toxicity or mortality. The mean overall survival time was 6.5 vs. 10.4 months for NRS and RS, respectively. Significant upregulation of serum miRNAs at earlier time points (3-6 weeks) was observed in NRS. miRNA levels increased with cancer progression, and lapatinib and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; the active form of capecitabine) treatment increased the miRNA levels (specifically miR-210 and miR-221) in the treatment-resistant pancreatic cancer PANC-1 and MIA PaCa-2 cell lines. However, lapatinib and 5-FU treatment did not increase the miRNA levels in the treatment-sensitive BXPC-3 cell line. Inhibition of miR-221 increased the sensitivity of the PANC-1 cells to treatment. In conclusion, an increase in specific serum miRNAs was associated with resistance to lapatinib and capecitabine treatment. Additional investigation is required with regard to the application of the miRNA panel investigated in the present study as a potential predictor of patient responses to anti-EGFR/HER2 treatment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: Xuefei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: Narayan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shivapurkar
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: Jimmy J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Pishvaian
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: Louis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ley
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: Xiuling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhi
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wellstein
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: Aiwu Ruth
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: He
keywords: biomarker; lapatinib; microRNA-221; pancreatic cancer; predict