Purpose: To determine whether lapatinib, a dual epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/HER2 kinase inhibitor, can radiosensitize EGFR+ or HER2+ breast cancer xenografts.
Methods and materials: Mice bearing xenografts of basal-like/EGFR+ SUM149 and HER2+ SUM225 breast cancer cells were treated with lapatinib and fractionated radiotherapy and tumor growth inhibition correlated with alterations in ERK1 and AKT activation by immunohistochemistry.
Results: Basal-like/EGFR+ SUM149 breast cancer tumors were completely resistant to treatment with lapatinib alone but highly growth impaired with lapatinib plus radiotherapy, exhibiting an enhancement ratio average of 2.75 and a fractional tumor product ratio average of 2.20 during the study period. In contrast, HER2+ SUM225 breast cancer tumors were highly responsive to treatment with lapatinib alone and yielded a relatively lower enhancement ratio average of 1.25 during the study period with lapatinib plus radiotherapy. Durable tumor control in the HER2+ SUM225 model was more effective with the combination treatment than either lapatinib or radiotherapy alone. Immunohistochemical analyses demonstrated that radiosensitization by lapatinib correlated with ERK1/2 inhibition in the EGFR+ SUM149 model and with AKT inhibition in the HER2+ SUM225 model.
Conclusion: Our data suggest that lapatinib combined with fractionated radiotherapy may be useful against EGFR+ and HER2+ breast cancers and that inhibition of downstream signaling to ERK1/2 and AKT correlates with sensitization in EGFR+ and HER2+ cells, respectively.
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