Co-clinical trial targeting ER, FGFR and CDK4/6 in resistant hormone-positive breast cancer with FGFR alterations

Abstract

Management of advanced hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer after progression on endocrine therapy plus CDK4/6 inhibitors is challenging due to mutational heterogeneity. Current therapies yield limited efficacy, achieving 4-6 months PFS. FGFR signaling is implicated in resistance to endocrine plus CDK4/6 inhibitors, but FGFR inhibitors have shown limited activity in unselected populations. Co-clinical trials bridge preclinical and clinical findings, optimize resources, and enable biomarker identification. Using patient-derived organoids (PDOs), we demonstrated that FGFR-amplified PDOs respond to fulvestrant, palbociclib, and rogaratinib only when PIK3CA and ESR1 are wild-type. In a dose-escalation trial pre-screening 66 patients with FGFR1/2-amplification (FISH) and/or overexpression (RNAScope) patients, >40% harbored FGFR alterations. Nine patients were enrolled; the combination showed activity specifically in PIK3CA- and ESR1-wild type patients (9.1 vs. 1.9 months PFS; P = 0.0005). Toxicity was manageable and consistent with prior data. Our findings highlight biomarker-driven approaches as essential for refining FGFR-targeted strategies in this resistant population.