Abstract P004: Targeting the RXR pathway for the prevention of triple-negative breast cancer
Authors: Moyer Cassandra , Hill Jamal , Coleman Darian , Sei Shizuko , Mohammed Altaf , Sanders Martin , Brown Powel , Mazumdar Abhijit 
Published: January 2023

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive cancer that lacks expression of the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor, and Erb-B2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2. TNBC patients exhibit a poor prognosis, even if treated with chemotherapy. Although studies using selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) and aromatase inhibitors (AIs) have shown that breast cancer prevention is feasible, these drugs do not prevent ER-negative or TNBC tumors. It has been shown by our laboratory and others that retinoid X receptor (RXR)-specific ligands (rexinoids) can prevent breast cancers that are both ER-positive and ER-negative in mice. In our previous studies in MMTV-erbB2 mice, IRX-4204, a fourth generation rexinoid, prevented the development of most HER2/erbB2-positive tumors in these mice. For this study, we hypothesized that by targeting RXR pathway, we can prevent the development of triple negative, BRCA1-mutant mammary tumors in mice. To test the hypothesis, we treated MMTV-Cre/BRCA1co/co/p53+/- mice prior to their developing tumors with IRX-4204 to determine whether this RXR agonist effectively prevents triple-negative breast tumors. Methods: We tested the tumor preventative effect of IRX-4204 using the established MMTV-Cre/BRCA1co/co/p53+/- mouse model. These mice were produced by breeding MMTV-Cre/BRCA1co/co/p53+/- males and MMTV-Cre/BRCA1co/co/p53+/+ females, and female pups were PCR genotyped. All mice were separated into 4 groups: 1) sesame oil control, 2) IRX-4204 (10 mg/kg), 3) IRX-4204 (20 mg/kg) and 4) 9-cis-UAB-30 (5 mg/kg). All treatments were given by oral gavage, five days a week from 4 months of age. Mice were observed daily for tumor formation and toxicity. The percentage of tumor free mice were recorded, from which tumor incidence and time to tumor formation was visualized using Kaplan Meier curves and analyzed using the Log-rank test. Results: In MMTV-Cre/BRCA1co/co/p53+/- mice, IRX-4204 reduced tumor incidence and was associated with an increase in median tumor free survival time from 209 days to 336 days at 10 mg/kg dose (p=0.005). At the higher dose (20 mg/kg) IRX-4204 also delayed tumor formation with median tumor free survival from 209 days to 260 days (p=0.039). The rexinoid 9-cis-UAB 30 also significantly delayed tumor formation in MMTV-Cre/BRCA1co/co/p53+/- mice with median survival from 209 days to 270 days (p=0.04). Long term treatment of IRX-4204 was not associated with any toxicity. Conclusion: RXR agonist IRX-4204 delayed ER-negative mammary tumor formation in BRCA1co/co; MMTV-Cre; p53+/- mice. Based on our results, IRX-4204 is an effective cancer preventive drug without observed toxicity. Our results suggest that studies with reduced IRX-4204 dose alone or in combination with other targeted therapies such as selective estrogen receptor modulators are warranted. In the future, clinical trials of the IRX-4204 should be considered for the prevention of breast cancer in high-risk patients. (Supported by NCI-PREVENT contract to P. Brown and A. Mazumdar HHSN26100008).

Citation Format: Cassandra Moyer, Jamal Hill, Darian Coleman, Shizuko Sei, Altaf Mohammed, Martin Sanders, Powel Brown, Abhijit Mazumdar. Targeting the RXR pathway for the prevention of triple-negative breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Precision Prevention, Early Detection, and Interception of Cancer; 2022 Nov 17-19; Austin, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2023;16(1 Suppl): Abstract nr P004.