Pharmacological CDK4/6 inhibition promotes vulnerability to lysosomotropic agents in breast cancer

Breast cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Pharmacological inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) 4 and 6 (CDK4/6i) inhibit breast cancer growth by inducing a senescent-like state. However, the long-term treatment efficacy remains limited by the development of drug resistance, so clearance of senescent-like cancer cells may extend the durability of treatment. However, we show here that while CDK4/6i-treated breast cancer cells exhibit various senescence-associated phenotypes, they remain insensitive to common senolytic compounds. By searching for novel vulnerabilities, we identify a significantly increased lysosomal mass and altered lysosomal structure across various breast cancer cell types upon exposure to CDK4/6i in preclinical systems and clinical specimens. We demonstrate that these CDK4/6i-induced lysosomal alterations render breast cancer cells sensitive to lysosomotropic agents, such as L-leucyl-L-leucine methyl ester (LLOMe) and salinomycin. Importantly, sequential treatment with CDK4/6i and lysosomotropic agents effectively reduces the growth of both hormone receptor-positive (HR+) and subsets of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells in vivo. This sequential therapeutic strategy offers a promising approach to eliminate CDK4/6i-induced senescent(-like) cells, potentially reducing tumor recurrence and enhancing the overall efficacy of breast cancer therapy.