The spindle assembly checkpoint is a therapeutic vulnerability of CDK4/6 inhibitor–resistant ER + breast cancer with mitotic aberrations

Abstract

Inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6i) are standard first-line treatments for metastatic ER + breast cancer. However, acquired resistance to CDK4/6i invariably develops, and the molecular phenotypes and exploitable vulnerabilities associated with resistance are not yet fully characterized. We developed a panel of CDK4/6i-resistant breast cancer cell lines and patient-derived organoids and demonstrate that a subset of resistant models accumulates mitotic segregation errors and micronuclei, displaying increased sensitivity to inhibitors of mitotic checkpoint regulators TTK and Aurora kinase A/B. RB1 loss, a well-recognized mechanism of CDK4/6i resistance, causes such mitotic defects and confers enhanced sensitivity to TTK inhibition. In these models, inhibition of TTK with CFI-402257 induces premature chromosome segregation, leading to excessive mitotic segregation errors, DNA damage, and cell death. These findings nominate the TTK inhibitor CFI-402257 as a therapeutic strategy for a defined subset of ER + breast cancer patients who develop resistance to CDK4/6i.