Mycoplasma hyorhinis infection promotes tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) resistance in lung adenocarcinoma patients.
PURPOSE
To explore the relationship between Mycoplasma hyorhinis infection and tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) resistance in lung adenocarcinoma patients.


METHODS
Mycoplasma hyorhinis infection can be verified with the monoclonal antibody PD4, which specifically recognizes a distinct protein of M. hyorhinis. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), using PD4 to detect M. hyorhinis, was performed on paraffin-embedded lung adenocarcinoma tissues of patients who had epidermal growth factor (EGFR) mutations and had received oral TKI. The number of patients enrolled in our study was 101. Assessments following TKI treatment were performed until objective disease progression or stable disease at the cutoff date was reached. In all of the patients, the primary endpoint was investigator-assessed progression-free survival (PFS).


RESULTS
Immunohistochemistry revealed that 61 of 101 cases (60.4%) of lung adenocarcinoma were positive for M. hyorhinis, which comprised of 31 low-positive cases and 30 high-positive cases; the remaining 40 cases (39.6%) were negative. The median PFS was significantly longer in the negative group [18 months (95% CI 14.15-21.85)] than in the low-positive group [10 months (95% CI 7.70-12.30); hazard ratio (HR) 4.095, 95% CI 2.254-7.438; p < 0.001] and in the high-positive group [4 months (95% CI 2.85-5.15); HR 31.703, 95% CI 14.425-69.678; p < 0.001]. The results of the subgroup analysis were satisfactory. The PFS benefit with negative M. hyorhinis infection was consistent across subgroups.


CONCLUSIONS
In this retrospective, exploratory analysis, M. hyorhinis infection significantly reduced PFS. With increased levels of M. hyorhinis infection, the progression of the disease was more advanced, likely due to the hydrolysis of TKI by M. hyorhinis. A strong correlation was found between M. hyorhinis infection and TKI resistance in lung adenocarcinoma. This study provides potent evidence that M. hyorhinis hydrolyses TKI and will assist in the research of related mechanisms in the future.


IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS
It provides an option to improve the efficacy of TKI, including strategies to decrease M. hyorhinis infection, thereby reducing long-term distress in TKI resistance patients with EGFR mutations.
['Dai|Yueyu|Y|http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3808-234X', 'Zhong|Fangyuan|F|', 'Liu|Wenbin|W|', 'Song|Qibin|Q|', 'Hu|Weiguo|W|']
D000077192:Adenocarcinoma of Lung D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm D066246:ErbB Receptors D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008175:Lung Neoplasms D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009154:Mutation D009175:Mycoplasma Infections D045790:Mycoplasma hyorhinis D000077982:Progression-Free Survival D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases D012189:Retrospective Studies
Mycoplasma hyorhinis Tyrosine kinase inhibitor Lung adenocarcinoma Progression-free survival Epidermal growth factor receptor