Pan-cancer analysis of oncogenic MET fusions reveals distinct pathogenomic subsets with differential sensitivity to MET-targeted therapy Journal Article


Authors: Febres-Aldana, C. A.; Vojnic, M.; Odintsov, I.; Zhang, T.; Cheng, R.; Beach, C. Z.; Lu, D.; Mattar, M. S.; Gazzo, A. M.; Gili, L.; Harshan, M.; Ameri, A.; Machnicki, S.; Xiao, X.; Lockwood, W. W.; Zhou, X. Y.; Yao, Q.; Drilon, A.; Rekhtman, N.; Shah, N.; Li, A.; Liu, Z.; Yang, S. R.; Davare, M. A.; Ladanyi, M.; Somwar, R.
Article Title: Pan-cancer analysis of oncogenic MET fusions reveals distinct pathogenomic subsets with differential sensitivity to MET-targeted therapy
Abstract: MET fusions (MET-F) are oncogenic drivers that remain poorly characterized. Analysis of 56 MET-F-positive tumors from an institutional cohort of 91,119 patients (79,864 DNA sequencing plus 11,255 RNA sequencing) uncovered two forms of MET-F pathobiology. The first group featured 5' partners with homodimerization domains fused in-frame with the MET tyrosine kinase domain, primarily originated from translocations, frequently excluded MET exon 14, mediated oncogenesis through cytoplasmic aggregation and constitutive activation, and were markedly sensitive to MET tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) in preclinical models and patients with lung cancer. The second group lacked partner homodimerization motifs and retained MET transmembrane and extracellular domains. Their pathogenesis involved intrachromosomal rearrangements, resulting in partner selection for promoter hijacking and fusion allele amplification. Membrane-bound fusions were enriched in gliomas with receptor tyrosine kinase co-alterations. We provide a framework to comprehend the heterogeneous landscape of MET-Fs, supporting that fusion oncogenicity and MET TKI sensitivity are determined by structural topology and pathogenomic context. SIGNIFICANCE: MET fusions are primary drivers of tumor growth in multiple tumor types - lung cancer and gliomas - and can be effectively targeted with either type I (crizotinib, capmatinib, tepotinib, and savolitinib) or type II (cabozantinib) MET TKIs, with best responses in tumors harboring fusions with partner homodimerization. ©2025 American Association for Cancer Research.
Keywords: genetics; neoplasm; neoplasms; metabolism; protein kinase inhibitor; pathology; protein kinase inhibitors; oncogene proteins, fusion; drug therapy; scatter factor receptor; molecularly targeted therapy; proto-oncogene proteins c-met; molecular targeted therapy; met protein, human; humans; human; oncogene fusion protein
Journal Title: Cancer Discovery
Volume: 15
Issue: 6
ISSN: 2159-8274
Publisher: American Association for Cancer Research  
Date Published: 2025-06-01
Start Page: 1141
End Page: 1158
Language: English
DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.Cd-24-0417
PUBMED: 39965191
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC12133426
DOI/URL:
Notes: The MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748) is acknowledge in the PDF -- Corresponding authors is MSK author: Romel Somwar -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Natasha Rekhtman
    434 Rekhtman
  2. Marc Ladanyi
    1333 Ladanyi
  3. Romel Somwar
    112 Somwar
  4. Alexander Edward Drilon
    637 Drilon
  5. Marissa   Mattar
    57 Mattar
  6. Soo Ryum Yang
    84 Yang
  7. Andrea Maria Gazzo
    56 Gazzo
  8. Tom Zhang
    8 Zhang
  9. Ryan Cheng
    5 Cheng
  10. Leo Gili
    4 Gili