Oncogenic and sorafenib-sensitive ARAF mutations in lung adenocarcinoma

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Abstract

Targeted cancer therapies often induce “outlier” responses in molecularly defined patient subsets. One patient with advanced-stage lung adenocarcinoma, who was treated with oral sorafenib, demonstrated a near-complete clinical and radiographic remission for 5 years. Whole-genome sequencing and RNA sequencing of primary tumor and normal samples from this patient identified a somatic mutation, ARAF S214C, present in the cancer genome and expressed at high levels. Additional mutations affecting this residue of ARAF and a nearby residue in the related kinase RAF1 were demonstrated across 1% of an independent cohort of lung adenocarcinoma cases. The ARAF mutations were shown to transform immortalized human airway epithelial cells in a sorafenib-sensitive manner. These results suggest that mutant ARAF is an oncogenic driver in lung adenocarcinoma and an indicator of sorafenib response.

Authors

Marcin Imielinski, Heidi Greulich, Bethany Kaplan, Luiz Araujo, Joseph Amann, Leora Horn, Joan Schiller, Miguel A. Villalona-Calero, Matthew Meyerson, David P. Carbone