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Kaseb AO, Haque A, Vishwamitra D, Hassan MM, Xiao L, George B, Sahu V, Mohamed YI, Carmagnani Pestana R, Lombardo JL, Avritscher R, Yao JC, Wolff RA, Rashid A, Morris JS, Amin HM. Blockade of growth hormone receptor signaling by using pegvisomant: A functional therapeutic strategy in hepatocellular carcinoma. Front Oncol 2022; 12:986305. [PMID: 36276070 PMCID: PMC9582251 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.986305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive neoplasm with poor clinical outcome because most patients present at an advanced stage, at which point curative surgical options, such as tumor excision or liver transplantation, are not feasible. Therefore, the majority of HCC patients require systemic therapy. Nonetheless, the currently approved systemic therapies have limited effects, particularly in patients with advanced and resistant disease. Hence, there is a critical need to identify new molecular targets and effective systemic therapies to improve HCC outcome. The liver is a major target of the growth hormone receptor (GHR) signaling, and accumulating evidence suggests that GHR signaling plays an important role in HCC pathogenesis. We tested the hypothesis that GHR could represent a potential therapeutic target in this aggressive neoplasm. We measured GH levels in 767 HCC patients and 200 healthy controls, and then carried out clinicopathological correlation analyses. Moreover, specific inhibition of GHR was performed in vitro using siRNA and pegvisomant (a small peptide that blocks GHR signaling and is currently approved by the FDA to treat acromegaly) and in vivo, also using pegvisomant. GH was significantly elevated in 49.5% of HCC patients, and these patients had a more aggressive disease and poorer clinical outcome (P<0.0001). Blockade of GHR signaling with siRNA or pegvisomant induced substantial inhibitory cellular effects in vitro. In addition, pegvisomant potentiated the effects of sorafenib (P<0.01) and overcame sorafenib resistance (P<0.0001) in vivo. Mechanistically, pegvisomant decreased the phosphorylation of GHR downstream survival proteins including JAK2, STAT3, STAT5, IRS-1, AKT, ERK, and IGF-IR. In two patients with advanced-stage HCC and high GH who developed sorafenib resistance, pegvisomant caused tumor stability. Our data show that GHR signaling represents a novel “druggable” target, and pegvisomant may function as an effective systemic therapy in HCC. Our findings could also lead to testing GHR inhibition in other aggressive cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed O. Kaseb
- Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
- *Correspondence: Hesham M. Amin, ; Ahmed O. Kaseb,
| | - Abedul Haque
- Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Deeksha Vishwamitra
- Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Manal M. Hassan
- Department of Epidemiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Lianchun Xiao
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Bhawana George
- Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Vishal Sahu
- Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Yehia I. Mohamed
- Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Roberto Carmagnani Pestana
- Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Jamie Lynne Lombardo
- Department of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Rony Avritscher
- Department of Interventional Radiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - James C. Yao
- Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Robert A. Wolff
- Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Asif Rashid
- Department of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Jeffrey S. Morris
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Hesham M. Amin
- Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States
- MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, United States
- *Correspondence: Hesham M. Amin, ; Ahmed O. Kaseb,
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Haque A, Sahu V, Lombardo JL, Xiao L, George B, Wolff RA, Morris JS, Rashid A, Kopchick JJ, Kaseb AO, Amin HM. Disruption of Growth Hormone Receptor Signaling Abrogates Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development. J Hepatocell Carcinoma 2022; 9:823-837. [PMID: 35996397 PMCID: PMC9391993 DOI: 10.2147/jhc.s368208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancers. It is an aggressive neoplasm with dismal outcome because most of the patients present with an advanced-stage disease, which precludes curative surgical options. Therefore, these patients require systemic therapies that typically induce small improvements in overall survival. Hence, it is crucial to identify new and promising therapeutic targets for HCC to improve the current outcome. The liver is a key organ in the signaling cascade triggered by the growth hormone receptor (GHR). Previous studies have shown that GHR signaling stimulates the proliferation and regeneration of liver cells and tissues; however, a definitive role of GHR signaling in HCC pathogenesis has not been identified. Methods In this study, we used a direct and specific approach to analyze the role of GHR in HCC development. This approach encompasses mice with global (Ghr-/- ) or liver-specific (LiGhr-/- ) disruption of GHR expression, and the injection of diethylnitrosamine (DEN) to develop HCC in these mice. Results Our data show that DEN induced HCC in a substantial majority of the Ghr+/+ (93.5%) and Ghr +/- (87.1%) mice but not in the Ghr-/- (5.6%) mice (P < 0.0001). Although 57.7% of LiGhr-/- mice developed HCC after injection of DEN, these mice had significantly fewer tumors than LiGhr+/+ (P < 0.001), which implies that the expression of GHR in the liver cells might increase tumor burden. Notably, the pathologic, histologic, and biochemical characteristics of DEN-induced HCC in mice resembled to a great extent human HCC, despite the fact that etiologically this model does not mimic this cancer in humans. Our data also show that the effects of DEN on mice livers were primarily related to its carcinogenic effects and ability to induce HCC, with minimal effects related to toxic effects. Conclusion Collectively, our data support an important role of GHR in HCC development, and suggest that exploiting GHR signaling may represent a promising approach to treat HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abedul Haque
- Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Vishal Sahu
- Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jamie Lynne Lombardo
- Department of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Lianchun Xiao
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Bhawana George
- Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Robert A Wolff
- Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jeffrey S Morris
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Asif Rashid
- Department of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - John J Kopchick
- Edison Biotechnology Institute, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
| | - Ahmed O Kaseb
- Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Hesham M Amin
- Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
- MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, USA
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