BRAF mutation predicts sensitivity to MEK inhibition

Molecular tumour profiling is one way in which effective targeted cancer treatment regimes might be developed. Two groups report significant developments in this direction. Bild et al. studied gene expression patterns that reflect the activation of various oncogenic (cancer-causing) signal transduction pathways. Using combinations of these pathway signatures, they predict which patients with breast, lung or ovarian cancer have a particularly poor prognosis. The ability to identify molecular pathways that are deregulated in a particular cancer in this way might be used to predict its sensitivity to specific therapeutic drugs. Solit et al. studied tumour cells with mutations in the RAS and BRAF genes, thought to cause cancer at least in part by activating the MEK/ERK signalling pathway. They show that tumours with the BRAF mutation, but not RAS, are highly sensitive to PD0325901, an MEK inhibitor that is in early-stage clinical trials in patients with melanoma, colon, breast and lung cancers. So by testing for the presence of BRAF mutations it may be possible to identify those patients most likely to benefit from this type of drug. The kinase pathway comprising RAS, RAF, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) and extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) is activated in most human tumours, often through gain-of-function mutations of RAS and RAF family members1. Using small-molecule inhibitors of MEK and an integrated genetic and pharmacologic analysis, we find that mutation of BRAF is associated with enhanced and selective sensitivity to MEK inhibition when compared to either ‘wild-type’ cells or cells harbouring a RAS mutation. This MEK dependency was observed in BRAF mutant cells regardless of tissue lineage, and correlated with both downregulation of cyclin D1 protein expression and the induction of G1 arrest. Pharmacological MEK inhibition completely abrogated tumour growth in BRAF mutant xenografts, whereas RAS mutant tumours were only partially inhibited. These data suggest an exquisite dependency on MEK activity in BRAF mutant tumours, and offer a rational therapeutic strategy for this genetically defined tumour subtype.