Abstract PO-074: Identification of C-MET receptor as a therapeutic target in patient-specific tumoroid models of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma allows identification of a new mode of action for its inhibitors

Creating patient-specific models with a high level of characterization and functionality in tumoroid modeling enables a better understanding of the disease drivers in metastatic cancers. It presents the opportunity for personalized treatment with novel therapeutic reagents in underrepresented cancers such as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Using a defined and treatment-naive patient-specific model cohort of nine patients diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, we aimed to represent the diversity of progression grade and assay profiles. These models were tested with a panel of common, broad-range chemotherapeutic agents and characterized for genetic, proteomic, and tumoroid drug response profiles. A detailed analysis of gene expression values from the original tissue specimen, compared with cancer cultures in hypoxic, normoxic planar, and spheroid (3D) culture conditions, enabled the identification of C-MET as a critical gene that shows upregulation closely resembling the expression profile observed in the original patient biopsy and was modulated by tissue culture format. Once this potential target was identified, the pancreatic models were treated with five C-MET-targeting chemotherapeutic agents with different modes of action. Proto-oncogene receptor C-MET (HGF receptor) is a potential therapeutic target in many metastatic cancers due to its integral role in angiogenesis, proliferation, and cancer cell survival¹. We propose that these reproducible and easily scaled tumoroid models can be used to find new therapeutic targets in-vitro and provide the example of C-MET in our pancreatic cancer patient cohort. Moreover, only 3D hypoxic models closely resembled original patient tissues in their genomic expression profiles. Using these model formats, we distinguished differences between various C-MET targeting compounds and their ability to induce cell death, which correlated with their mode of action on C-MET neutralization. Identifying these targets in 3D produces new and potentially more effective drug targets where they may not have been observed solely in planar conditions with legacy cell lines. Our models of metastatic pancreatic cancer tumoroids can be readily utilized to benefit researchers and clinicians seeking new targets for patient treatment. Citation Format: Liam Deems, Maria Ivanova, Cheryl Murphy, Amit Shahar, David Deems, Dmitry Shvartsman. Identification of C-MET receptor as a therapeutic target in patient-specific tumoroid models of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma allows identification of a new mode of action for its inhibitors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer; 2021 Sep 29-30. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(22 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-074.