The anti-HER3 antibody in combination with trastuzumab exerts synergistic antitumor activity in HER2-positive gastric cancer

The anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody trastuzumab is central to the treatment of HER2-positive gastric cancer (GC); however, its responses are limited. HER3 seems to be the preferred dimerization partner with HER2 and is emerging as a key target for complete blockade of downstream pathways and better clinical response. In this study, we report that novel anti-HER3 antibodies (1A5-3D4) that can neutralize multiple modes of HER3 activation, combined with trastuzumab, exhibited synergistic inhibitory effect on the cell proliferation in HER2-positive GC cell lines. Follow-up studies revealed that the combination treatment significantly inhibited phosphorylation of HER3 as well as AKT and ERK signals. In vivo experiments further showed that the anti-tumor effect of trastuzumab was enhanced by its combination with 1A5-3D4 in NCI-N87 xenograft and patient derived xenografts (PDX). Particularly in an HER2-negative whereas neuregulin1 (a ligand of HER3) positive PDX, the combination was also superior to monotherapy. 1A5-3D4 in combination with trastuzumab exhibits a synergistic inhibitory effect on tumor activity, suggesting that targeting both HER2 and HER3 resulted in an improved treatment effects on HER2-positive GC.