RAS-MAPK Pathway-Driven Tumor Progression Is Associated with Loss of CIC and Other Genomic Aberrations in Neuroblastoma

Mutations affecting the RAS-MAPK pathway frequently occur in relapsed neuroblastoma tumors, which suggests that activation of this pathway is associated with a more aggressive phenotype. To explore this hypothesis, we generated several model systems to define a neuroblastoma RAS-MAPK pathway signature. Activation of this pathway in primary tumors indeed correlated with poor survival and was associated with known activating mutations in ALK and other RAS-MAPK pathway genes. Integrative analysis showed that mutations in PHOX2B, CIC, and DMD were also associated with an activated RAS-MAPK pathway. Mutation of PHOX2B and deletion of CIC in neuroblastoma cell lines induced activation of the RAS-MAPK pathway. This activation was independent of phosphorylated ERK in CIC knockout systems. Furthermore, deletion of CIC caused a significant increase in tumor growth in vivo. These results show that the RAS-MAPK pathway is involved in tumor progression and establish CIC as a powerful tumor suppressor that functions downstream of this pathway in neuroblastoma. Significance: This work identifies CIC as a powerful tumor suppressor affecting the RAS-MAPK pathway in neuroblastoma and reinforces the importance of mutation-driven activation of this pathway in cancer. (C) 2018 AACR.