ER+ breast cancers resistant to prolonged neoadjuvant letrozole exhibit an E2F4 transcriptional program sensitive to CDK4/6 inhibitors

Purpose:This study aimed to identify biomarkers of resistance to endocrine therapy in ER+ breast cancers (BC) treated with prolonged neoadjuvant letrozole. Experimental Design: We performed targeted DNA and RNA-sequencing in 68 ER+ BC from patients treated with preoperative letrozole (median 7 months). Results:Twenty-four tumors (35%) exhibited a PEPI score ≥4 and/or recurred after a median of 58 months and were considered endocrine resistant. Integration of the 47 most upregulated genes (log FC>1, FDR<0.03) in letrozole-resistant tumors with transcription binding data showed significant overlap with 20 E2F4-regulated genes (p=2.56E-15). In patients treated with the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib before surgery, treatment significantly decreased expression of 24 of the 47 most upregulated genes in letrozole-resistant tumors, including 18 of the 20 E2F4 target genes. In long term estrogen-deprived ER+ BC cells, palbociclib also downregulated all 20 E2F4-target genes and P-RB levels, whereas the ER downregulator fulvestrant or paclitaxel only partially suppressed expression of this set of genes and had no effect on P-RB. Finally, an E2F4 activation signature was strongly associated with resistance to aromatase inhibitors in the ACOSOG Z1031B neoadjuvant trial and with an increased risk of relapse in adjuvant treated ER+ tumors in METABRIC. Conclusions: In tumors resistant to prolonged neoadjuvant letrozole, we identified a gene expression signature of E2F4 target activation. CDK4/6 inhibition suppressed E2F4 target gene expression in estrogen-deprived ER+ BC cells and in patients' ER+ tumors, suggesting a potential benefit of adjuvant CDK4/6 inhibitors in patients with ER+ breast cancer who fail to respond to preoperative estrogen deprivation.

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