Molecular Alterations and Putative Therapeutic Targeting of Planar Cell Polarity Proteins in Breast Cancer

Treatment and outcomes of breast cancer, one of the most prevalent female cancers, have improved in recent decades. However, metastatic breast cancer remains incurable in most cases, and new therapies are needed to ameliorate prognosis. Planar cell polarity (PCP) is a characteristic of epithelial cells that form layers and is integral to the communication of these cells with neighboring cells. Dysfunction of PCP is observed in cancers and may confer a targetable vulnerability.

The breast cancer cohorts from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the METABRIC study were interrogated for molecular alterations in genes of the PCP pathway. The groups with the most prevalent alterations were characterized, and survival was compared with counterparts not possessing PCP alterations. Breast cancer cell lines with PCP alterations from the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) were interrogated for sensitivity to drugs affecting PCP.

Among genes of the PCP pathway, VANGL2, NOS1AP and SCRIB display amplifications in a sizable minority of breast cancers. Concomitant up-regulation at the mRNA level can be observed mostly in basal cancers, but it does not correlate well with the amplification status of the genes, as it can also be observed in non-amplified cases. In an exploration of cell line models, two of the four breast cancer cell line models with amplifications in VANGL2, NOS1AP and SCRIB display sensitivity to drugs inhibiting acyl-transferase porcupine interfering with the WNT pathway. This sensitivity suggests a possible therapeutic role of these inhibitors in cancers bearing the amplifications.

Molecular alterations in PCP genes can be observed in breast cancers with a predilection for the basal sub-type. An imperfect correlation of copy number alterations with mRNA expression suggests that post-translational modifications are important in PCP regulation. Inhibitors of acyl-transferase porcupine may be rational candidates for combination therapy development in PCP-altered breast cancers.