PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Björn Kruspig AU - Tiziana Monteverde AU - Sarah Neidler AU - Andreas Hock AU - Emma Kerr AU - Colin Nixon AU - William Clark AU - Ann Hedley AU - Craig Dick AU - Karen Vousden AU - Carla Martins AU - Daniel J. Murphy TI - The ERBB network facilitates KRAS-driven lung tumorigenesis AID - 10.1101/290700 DP - 2018 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 290700 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/04/09/290700.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/04/09/290700.full AB - KRAS is the most frequently mutated driver oncogene in human adenocarcinoma of the lung. There are presently no clinically proven strategies for treatment of KRAS-driven lung cancer. Activating mutations in KRAS are thought to confer independence from upstream signaling, however recent data suggest that this independence may not be absolute. Here we show that initiation and progression of KRAS-driven lung tumors requires input from ERBB family RTKs: Multiple ERBB RTKs are expressed and active from the earliest stages of KRAS driven lung tumor development, and treatment with a multi-ERBB inhibitor suppresses formation of KRasG12D-driven lung tumors. We present evidence that ERBB activity amplifies signaling through the core RAS pathway, supporting proliferation of KRAS mutant tumor cells in culture and progression to invasive disease in vivo. Importantly, brief pharmacological inhibition of the ERBB network significantly enhances the therapeutic benefit of MEK inhibition in an autochthonous tumor setting. Our data suggest that lung cancer patients with KRAS-driven disease may benefit from inclusion of multi-ERBB inhibitors in rationally designed treatment strategies.One Sentence Summary G12 Mutant KRAS requires tonic ERBB network activity for initiation and maintenance of lung cancer