PDK1 mediates NOTCH1-mutated head and neck squamous carcinoma vulnerability to therapeutic PI3K/mTOR inhibition.

PURPOSE: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is driven largely by the loss of tumor suppressor genes, including NOTCH1, but lacks a biomarker-driven targeted therapy. Although the PI3K/mTOR pathway is frequently altered in HNSCC, the disease has modest clinical response rates to PI3K/mTOR inhibitors and lacks validated biomarkers of response. We tested the hypothesis that an unbiased pharmacogenomics approach to PI3K/mTOR pathway inhibitors would identify novel, clinically relevant molecular vulnerabilities in HNSCC with loss of tumor suppressor function.

METHODS: We assessed the degree to which responses to PI3K/mTOR inhibitors are associated with gene mutations in 59 HNSCC cell lines. Apoptosis in drug-sensitive cell lines was confirmed in vitro and in vivo. NOTCH1 pathway components and PDK1 were manipulated with drugs, gene editing, knockdown, and overexpression.

RESULTS: PI3K/mTOR inhibition caused apoptosis and decreased colony numbers in HNSCC cell lines harboring NOTCH1 loss-of-function mutations (NOTCH1 MUT) and reduced tumor size in subcutaneous and orthotopic xenograft models. In all cell lines, NOTCH1MUT was strongly associated with sensitivity to six PI3K/mTOR inhibitors. NOTCH1 inhibition or knockout increased NOTCH1WT HNSCC sensitivity to PI3K/mTOR inhibition. PDK1 levels dropped following PI3K/mTOR inhibition in NOTCH1MUT but not NOTCH1WT HNSCC, and PDK1 overexpression rescued apoptosis in NOTCH1MUT cells. PDK1 and AKT inhibitors together caused apoptosis in NOTCH1WT HNSCC but had little effect as single agents.

CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that NOTCH1MUT predicts response to PI3K/mTOR inhibitors, which may lead to the first biomarker-driven targeted therapy for HNSCC, and that targeting PDK1 sensitizes NOTCH1WT HNSCC to PI3K/mTOR pathway inhibitors.