Abstract Targeted monotherapies for cancer often fail due to inherent or acquired drug resistance. By aiming at multiple targets simultaneously, drug combinations can produce synergistic interactions that increase drug effectiveness and reduce resistance. Computational models based on the integration of omics data have been used to identify synergistic combinations, but predicting drug synergy remains a challenge. Here, we introduce DIPx, an algorithm for personalized prediction of drug synergy based on biologically motivated tumor- and drug-specific pathway activation scores (PASs). We trained and validated DIPx in the AstraZeneca-Sanger (AZS) DREAM Challenge dataset using two separate test sets: Test Set 1 comprised the combinations already present in the training set, while Test Set 2 contained combinations absent from the training set, thus indicating the model’s ability to handle novel combinations. The Spearman correlation coefficients between predicted and observed drug synergy were 0.50 (95% CI: 0.47–0.53) in Test Set 1 and 0.26 (95% CI: 0.22–0.30) in Test Set 2, compared to 0.38 (95% CI: 0.34–0.42) and 0.18 (95% CI: 0.16–0.20), respectively, for the best performing method in the Challenge. We show evidence that higher synergy is associated with higher functional interaction between the drug targets, and this functional interaction information is captured by PAS. We illustrate the use of PAS to provide a potential biological explanation in terms of activated pathways that mediate the synergistic effects of combined drugs. In summary, DIPx can be a useful tool for personalized prediction of drug synergy and exploration of activated pathways related to the effects of combined drugs.

Pathway activation model for personalized prediction of drug synergy