Chemotherapeutic agents circumvent emergence of dasatinib-resistant BCR-ABL kinase mutations in a precise mouse model of Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Blood. 2011 Mar 31;117(13):3585-95. doi: 10.1182/blood-2010-08-301267. Epub 2011 Jan 24.

Abstract

The introduction of cultured p185(BCR-ABL)-expressing (p185+) Arf (-/-) pre-B cells into healthy syngeneic mice induces aggressive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that genetically and phenotypically mimics the human disease. We adapted this high-throughput Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph(+)) ALL animal model for in vivo luminescent imaging to investigate disease progression, targeted therapeutic response, and ALL relapse in living mice. Mice bearing high leukemic burdens (simulating human Ph(+) ALL at diagnosis) entered remission on maximally intensive, twice-daily dasatinib therapy, but invariably relapsed with disseminated and/or central nervous system disease. Although relapse was frequently accompanied by the eventual appearance of leukemic clones harboring BCR-ABL kinase domain (KD) mutations that confer drug resistance, their clonal emergence required prolonged dasatinib exposure. KD P-loop mutations predominated in mice receiving less intensive therapy, whereas high-dose treatment selected for T315I "gatekeeper" mutations resistant to all 3 Food and Drug Administration-approved BCR-ABL kinase inhibitors. The addition of dexamethasone and/or L-asparaginase to reduced-intensity dasatinib therapy improved long-term survival of the majority of mice that received all 3 drugs. Although non-tumor-cell-autonomous mechanisms can prevent full eradication of dasatinib-refractory ALL in this clinically relevant model, the emergence of resistance to BCR-ABL kinase inhibitors can be effectively circumvented by the addition of "conventional" chemotherapeutic agents with alternate antileukemic mechanisms of action.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 / genetics
  • Dasatinib
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / drug effects*
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / genetics*
  • Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Mutagenesis / drug effects*
  • Mutation, Missense / drug effects
  • Philadelphia Chromosome / drug effects
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / drug therapy
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / genetics*
  • Pyrimidines / therapeutic use*
  • Thiazoles / therapeutic use*
  • Transplantation, Isogeneic

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Cdkn2a protein, mouse
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16
  • Pyrimidines
  • Thiazoles
  • Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl
  • Dasatinib