Synergistic antitumor effects of cMet inhibitor in combination with anti-VEGF in colorectal cancer patient-derived xenograft models

cMet signaling pathway is involved in the resistance to anti-VEGF therapy and cMet overexpression is associated with tumor progression and poor prognosis. In this study, the expression of cMet in 146 Chinese colorectal cancer (CRC) patients was examined by immunohistochemistry staining. Our data demonstrated that cMet overexpression rate was 42.5% (62/146) and cMet overexpression was closely correlated with distant metastasis of CRC. Using CRC patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse models we investigated antitumor activity of a novel selective cMet inhibitor volitinib alone or in combination with anti-VEGF inhibitor apatinib in vivo. Our results showed that combination treatment significantly inhibited tumor growth in two PDX models. While volitinib treatment alone induced moderate improvement in tumor growth inhibition, combination treatment synergistically reduced microvessel density, suppressed proliferation, and increased apoptosis in PDX models. Further analysis showed synergistic inhibition of MAPK and PI3K/Akt pathways by volitinib and apatinib. Taken together, our data provide a rationale to targeting both cMet and VEGF in the treatment of cMet overexpressing CRC in clinical trials.