- Hong, Aayoung;
- Piva, Marco;
- Liu, Sixue;
- Hugo, Willy;
- Lomeli, Shirley H;
- Zoete, Vincent;
- Randolph, Christopher E;
- Yang, Zhentao;
- Wang, Yan;
- Lee, Jordan J;
- Lo, Skylar J;
- Sun, Lu;
- Vega-Crespo, Agustin;
- Garcia, Alejandro J;
- Shackelford, David B;
- Dubinett, Steven M;
- Scumpia, Philip O;
- Byrum, Stephanie D;
- Tackett, Alan J;
- Donahue, Timothy R;
- Michielin, Olivier;
- Holmen, Sheri L;
- Ribas, Antoni;
- Moriceau, Gatien;
- Lo, Roger S
MAPK targeting in cancer often fails due to MAPK reactivation. MEK inhibitor (MEKi) monotherapy provides limited clinical benefits but may serve as a foundation for combination therapies. Here, we showed that combining a type II RAF inhibitor (RAFi) with an allosteric MEKi durably prevents and overcomes acquired resistance among cancers with KRAS, NRAS, NF1, BRAF non-V600, and BRAF V600 mutations. Tumor cell-intrinsically, type II RAFi plus MEKi sequester MEK in RAF complexes, reduce MEK/MEK dimerization, and uncouple MEK from ERK in acquired-resistant tumor subpopulations. Immunologically, this combination expands memory and activated/exhausted CD8+ T cells, and durable tumor regression elicited by this combination requires CD8+ T cells, which can be reinvigorated by anti-PD-L1 therapy. Whereas MEKi reduces dominant intratumoral T-cell clones, type II RAFi cotreatment reverses this effect and promotes T-cell clonotypic expansion. These findings rationalize the clinical development of type II RAFi plus MEKi and their further combination with PD-1/L1-targeted therapy. SIGNIFICANCE: Type I RAFi + MEKi are indicated only in certain BRAF V600MUT cancers. In contrast, type II RAFi + MEKi are durably active against acquired MEKi resistance across broad cancer indications, which reveals exquisite MAPK addiction. Allosteric modulation of MAPK protein/protein interactions and temporal preservation of intratumoral CD8+ T cells are mechanisms that may be further exploited.This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 521.