Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Feb;51(2):207-216.
doi: 10.1038/s41588-018-0287-5. Epub 2018 Dec 10.

Acquired HER2 mutations in ER+ metastatic breast cancer confer resistance to estrogen receptor-directed therapies

Utthara Nayar  1   2   3   4 , Ofir Cohen  1   2   3   4 , Christian Kapstad  1   2   4 , Michael S Cuoco  5 , Adrienne G Waks  1   2   3   4   6 , Seth A Wander  1   2   3   4   6 , Corrie Painter  4 , Samuel Freeman  2   3   4 , Nicole S Persky  4 , Lori Marini  1   2 , Karla Helvie  1   2 , Nelly Oliver  1   2 , Orit Rozenblatt-Rosen  5 , Cynthia X Ma  7 , Aviv Regev  5   8 , Eric P Winer  2   3   6 , Nancy U Lin  2   3   6 , Nikhil Wagle  9   10   11   12   13
Affiliations

Acquired HER2 mutations in ER+ metastatic breast cancer confer resistance to estrogen receptor-directed therapies

Utthara Nayar et al. Nat Genet. 2019 Feb.

Abstract

Seventy percent of breast cancers express the estrogen receptor (ER), and agents that target the ER are the mainstay of treatment. However, virtually all people with ER+ breast cancer develop resistance to ER-directed agents in the metastatic setting. Beyond mutations in the ER itself, which occur in 25-30% of people treated with aromatase inhibitors1-4, knowledge about clinical resistance mechanisms remains incomplete. We identified activating HER2 mutations in metastatic biopsies from eight patients with ER+ metastatic breast cancer who had developed resistance to aromatase inhibitors, tamoxifen or fulvestrant. Examination of treatment-naive primary tumors in five patients showed no evidence of pre-existing mutations in four of five patients, suggesting that these mutations were acquired under the selective pressure of ER-directed therapy. The HER2 mutations and ER mutations were mutually exclusive, suggesting a distinct mechanism of acquired resistance to ER-directed therapies. In vitro analysis confirmed that the HER2 mutations conferred estrogen independence as well as-in contrast to ER mutations-resistance to tamoxifen, fulvestrant and the CDK4 and CDK6 inhibitor palbociclib. Resistance was overcome by combining ER-directed therapy with the irreversible HER2 kinase inhibitor neratinib.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms