BCAM and LAMA5 Mediate the Recognition between Tumor Cells and the Endothelium in the Metastatic Spreading of KRAS-Mutant Colorectal Cancer.

Purpose: KRAS mutations confer adverse prognosis to colorectal cancer, and no targeted therapies have shown efficacy in this patient subset. Paracrine, nongenetic events induced by KRAS-mutant tumor cells are expected to result in specific deregulation and/or relocation of tumor microenvironment (TME) proteins, which in principle can be exploited as alternative therapeutic targets.

Experimental Design: A multimodal strategy combining ex vivo/in vitro phage display screens with deep-sequencing and bioinformatics was applied to uncover TME-specific targets in KRAS-mutant hepatic metastasis from colorectal cancer. Expression and localization of BCAM and LAMA5 were validated by immunohistochemistry in preclinical models of human hepatic metastasis and in a panel of human specimens (n = 71). The antimetastatic efficacy of two BCAM-mimic peptides was evaluated in mouse models. The role of BCAM in the interaction of KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer cells with TME cells was investigated by adhesion assays.

Results: BCAM and LAMA5 were identified as molecular targets within both tumor cells and TME of KRAS-mutant hepatic metastasis from colorectal cancer, where they were specifically overexpressed. Two BCAM-mimic peptides inhibited KRAS-mutant hepatic metastasis in preclinical models. Genetic suppression and biochemical inhibition of either BCAM or LAMA5 impaired adhesion of KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer cells specifically to endothelial cells, whereas adhesion to pericytes and hepatocytes was unaffected.

Conclusions: These data show that the BCAM/LAMA5 system plays a functional role in the metastatic spreading of KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer by mediating tumor-TME interactions and as such represents a valuable therapeutic candidate for this large, currently untreatable patient group. Clin Cancer Res; 22(19); 4923-33. ©2016 AACR.