Clonal dynamics of BRAF -driven drug resistance in EGFR -mutant lung cancer

Activation of MAPK signaling via BRAF mutations may limit the activity of EGFR inhibitors in EGFR- mutant lung cancer patients. However, the impact of BRAF mutations on the selection and fitness of emerging resistant clones during anti-EGFR therapy remains elusive. We tracked the evolution of subclonal mutations by whole-exome sequencing and performed clonal analyses of individual metastases during therapy. Complementary functional analyses of polyclonal EGFR -mutant cell pools showed a dose-dependent enrichment of BRAF V600E and a loss of EGFR inhibitor susceptibility. The clones remain stable and become vulnerable to combined EGFR, RAF, and MEK inhibition. Moreover, only osimertinib/trametinib combination treatment, but not monotherapy with either of these drugs, leads to robust tumor shrinkage in EGFR -driven xenograft models harboring BRAF V600E mutations. These data provide insights into the dynamics of clonal evolution of EGFR -mutant tumors and the therapeutic implications of BRAF co-mutations that may facilitate the development of treatment strategies to improve the prognosis of these patients.