Co-targeting KRAS and BCL-2 induces pyroptosis and antitumor tertiary lymphoid structures

Two documented clinical failures match this mechanism, or a single Phase 3 failure is on record.

Abstract excerpt

Mutant KRAS drives lung tumorigenesis through both cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic mechanisms, yet mutation subtype-specific differences in metabolic regulation and immune evasion remain incompletely understood. Here we show that the KRAS G12D mutation, particularly in the KRAS/STK11 co-mutant (KL) context, is associated with poor prognosis and a suppressed immune microenvironment characterized by impaired antigen presentation. At the cell-intrinsic level, G12D exhibits weakened interaction with hexokinase 1 (HK1), reduced spare respiratory capacity, and diminished mitochondrial stress resistance compared with G12C. Based on this mitochondrial vulnerability, we screened a panel of clinically available agents that induce mitochondrial stress and identified that co-targeting KRAS and BCL-2 synergistically triggers GSDME-mediated pyroptosis predominantly in G12D tumors. This combination further induces functional tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) in vivo. Immune cell depletion experiments further demonstrate that the antitumor efficacy is dramatically dependent on B cells. Moreover, this treatment strategy induced membrane attack complex (MAC) deposition in situ and elicited memory antitumor responses. Collectively, these findings establish that combined KRAS and BCL-2 inhibition elicits pyroptosis and TLS formation, leading to B-cell-dependent in situ and memory antitumor immunity, providing a mechanistic rationale for targeting mitochondrial-immune crosstalk in KRAS G12D-mutant lung cancer.