Oncogenic mutations within the β3-αC loop of EGFR/ERBB2/BRAF/MAP2K1 predict response to therapies

β3-αC loop is a highly conserved structural domain across oncogene families, which is a switch for kinase activity. There have been numerous researches on mutations within β3-αC loop in EGFR, but relatively less in ERBB2, BRAF, and MAP2K1. In addition, previous studies mainly focus on β3-αC deletion in EGFR, which is the most common type affecting kinase activity and driving lung cancer. Other mutation types are not well studied.

Here we analyzed the profile of β3-αC loop mutations in a total of 10,000 tumor biopsy and/or ctDNA patient samples using hybridization capture-based next-generation sequencing.

We identified 1616 mutations within β3-αC loop in this cohort. Most mutations were located in EGFR, with less percentage in ERBB2, BRAF, and MAP2K1. EGFR β3-αC deletions occurred at a high percentage of 96.7% and were all drug-relevant. We also detected rare EGFR β3-αC insertions and point mutations, most of which were related to EGFR TKIs resistance. ERBB2 β3-αC deletions were only found in breast cancers and sensitive to EGFR/ERBB2 inhibitor. Moreover, BRAF and MAP2K1 mutations within β3-αC loop also demonstrated drugs relevance.

Our study showed that oncogenic mutations within the β3-αC loop of ERBB2, MAP2K1, and BRAF are analogous to that of EGFR, which have profound effect on drug response. Understanding the mutation profile within the β3-αC loop is critical for targeted therapies.