Frequent mutation of the PI3K pathway in head and neck cancer defines predictive biomarkers
A partir de données portant sur 151 échantillons tumoraux prélevés sur des patients atteints d'un carcinome épidermoïde de la tête et du cou, cette étude suggère que des mutations de la voie PI3K pourraient servir de biomarqueurs pour prédire la réponse thérapeutique
Genomic findings underscore the heterogeneity of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Identification of mutations that predict therapeutic response would be a major advance. We determined the mutationally altered, targetable mitogenic pathways in a large HNSCC cohort. Analysis of whole-exome sequencing data from 151 tumors revealed the PI3K pathway to be the most frequently mutated oncogenic pathway (30.5%). PI3K pathway-mutated HNSCC tumors harbored a significantly higher rate of mutations in known cancer genes. In a subset of HPV-positive tumors, PIK3CA or PIK3R1 was the only mutated cancer gene. Strikingly, all tumors with concurrent mutation of multiple PI3K pathway genes were advanced (stage IV), implicating concerted PI3K pathway aberrations in HNSCC progression. Patient-derived tumorgrafts with canonical and non-canonical PIK3CA mutations were sensitive to an m-TOR/PI3K inhibitor (BEZ-235) in contrast to PIK3CA wildtype tumorgrafts. These results suggest that PI3K pathway mutations may serve as predictive biomarkers for treatment selection.
Cancer Discovery , résumé, 2013