1. Academic Validation
  2. Entrectinib, a Pan-TRK, ROS1, and ALK Inhibitor with Activity in Multiple Molecularly Defined Cancer Indications

Entrectinib, a Pan-TRK, ROS1, and ALK Inhibitor with Activity in Multiple Molecularly Defined Cancer Indications

  • Mol Cancer Ther. 2016 Apr;15(4):628-39. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-15-0758.
Elena Ardini 1 Maria Menichincheri 2 Patrizia Banfi 2 Roberta Bosotti 2 Cristina De Ponti 2 Romana Pulci 3 Dario Ballinari 2 Marina Ciomei 2 Gemma Texido 2 Anna Degrassi 2 Nilla Avanzi 2 Nadia Amboldi 2 Maria Beatrice Saccardo 2 Daniele Casero 2 Paolo Orsini 2 Tiziano Bandiera 2 Luca Mologni 4 David Anderson 5 Ge Wei 5 Jason Harris 5 Jean-Michel Vernier 5 Gang Li 5 Eduard Felder 2 Daniele Donati 2 Antonella Isacchi 2 Enrico Pesenti 3 Paola Magnaghi 2 Arturo Galvani 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Nerviano Medical Sciences srl, Nerviano, Milan, Italy. [email protected].
  • 2 Nerviano Medical Sciences srl, Nerviano, Milan, Italy.
  • 3 Accelera srl, Nerviano, Milan, Italy.
  • 4 Department of Health Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy.
  • 5 Ignyta, Inc., San Diego, California.
Abstract

Activated ALK and ROS1 tyrosine kinases, resulting from chromosomal rearrangements, occur in a subset of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) as well as other tumor types and their oncogenic relevance as actionable targets has been demonstrated by the efficacy of selective kinase inhibitors such as crizotinib, ceritinib, and alectinib. More recently, low-frequency rearrangements of TRK kinases have been described in NSCLC, colorectal carcinoma, glioblastoma, and Spitzoid melanoma. Entrectinib, whose discovery and preclinical characterization are reported herein, is a novel, potent inhibitor of ALK, ROS1, and, importantly, of TRK family kinases, which shows promise for therapy of tumors bearing oncogenic forms of these proteins. Proliferation profiling against over 200 human tumor cell lines revealed that entrectinib is exquisitely potent in vitro against lines that are dependent on the drug's pharmacologic targets. Oral administration of entrectinib to tumor-bearing mice induced regression in relevant human xenograft tumors, including the TRKA-dependent colorectal carcinoma KM12, ROS1-driven tumors, and several ALK-dependent models of different tissue origins, including a model of brain-localized lung Cancer metastasis. Entrectinib is currently showing great promise in phase I/II clinical trials, including the first documented objective responses to a Trk Inhibitor in colorectal carcinoma and in NSCLC. The drug is, thus, potentially suited to the therapy of several molecularly defined Cancer settings, especially that of TRK-dependent tumors, for which no approved drugs are currently available. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(4); 628-39. ©2016 AACR.

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