Abstract 3390: Development of hypoxia responsive targeted polymersomes drug therapy validated using patient derived xenograft of triple negative breast cancer
Authors: Ramakrishnan Yogaraj S , Ambhore Shubhashri , Edvall Connor , Mohammed Jiyan , Mallik Sanku , Tuvin Daniel M , Sathish Venkatachalem 
Published: March 2024

Introduction: Eliminating triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) resistance to neoadjuvant chemotherapy is a critical unmet clinical need. TNBC accounts for 20% of breast cancer and is more aggressive due to increased metastasis, high recurrence rate, and significant resistance to chemotherapy (e.g., Doxorubicin, DOX). Napabucasin (NAPA, a small organic molecule) is recognized to kill cancer stem cells by targeting the transcription factor STAT3 pathway and is currently in clinical trials. Our previous in vitro results showed significant effects with hypoxia-responsive targeted polymersomes compared to control in MDA-MB-231 and Patient-Derived Xenograft (PDX) TNBC cells. Further, we observed increased NRP-1 expression in TNBC patient-derived xenograft (PDX) cells under hypoxic (0.2% oxygen) conditions compared to normoxia (21% oxygen). Hence, we hypothesize that targeted hypoxia-responsive polymersome drug therapy would reduce the tumor growth of the PDX mouse model of triple-negative breast cancer in vivo.

Methods: We have established the TNBC PDX mouse model with two major phases, initial propagation (F1-F3) and final study phase (F3-F6), for in vivo study (TNBC tumor samples received from Sanford Broadway Clinic, Fargo, IRB approved). We utilized 3-6 months old female adult NSG mice (Jackson Lab) weighing 18-25 g. PDX tumor-bearing female NSG mice were administered polymersome-encapsulated drug (doxorubicin and other groups) by intravenous injection twice a week for 4 weeks and then observed the animals for an additional week. The percentage of tumor volume growth was calculated on these treatment groups and compared to vehicle. The tumors from all the groups were excised and dissected after the treatment and fixed in 10% formalin for histological evaluation. Tumors from all the groups after treatment were stained using hematoxylin and eosin to analyze the tumor core necrosis, and the average area of necrosis was compared among all the groups.

Results: The TNBC PDX mouse model treated with DOX alone and a combination of encapsulated DOX with NAPA showed significant weight loss compared to the control (over 4 weeks). DOX-alone treated mice have shown reduced tumor growth and exhibited a significant difference compared to the control group. Notably, the targeted DOX-encapsulated polymersome demonstrated a much lower tumor volume and displayed a marked difference compared to non-targeted vehicles, free-DOX, and saline. In the initial analysis, we observed a higher necrosis in the tumor of the targeted DOX-encapsulated polymersome compared to the control.

Summary and Conclusion: Overall, the hypoxia-responsive targeted polymersomes showed potent antitumor activity in the novel TNBC PDX animal model. With further developments, the targeted polymersomes might have translational potential as drug carriers for treating TNBC.

Citation Format: Yogaraj S Ramakrishnan, Shubhashri Ambhore, Connor Edvall, Jiyan Mohammed, Sanku Mallik, Daniel M Tuvin, Venkatachalem Sathish. Development of hypoxia responsive targeted polymersomes drug therapy validated using patient derived xenograft of triple negative breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 3390.