Study Findings Point the Way Toward New Therapeutic Strategies for Treating Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Cancer researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have identified a potential new method for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) that mimics the process of lactation involution by leveraging a specific drug combination. They believe that the pre-clinical findings illustrate a promising treatment strategy for the most aggressive and deadly type of breast cancer. The findings were published in the journal Nature.

“When combined, these therapeutic agents can hijack signals that occur naturally in the body to eliminate breast cells after the cessation of lactation to kill these aggressive cancer cells,” said senior author Karen Cichowski, PhD, of the Division of Genetics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital via a press release.

The combination of therapeutic agents EZH2 and AKT was discovered using patient-derived samples. Investigators used these samples to drive the TNBC cells toward differentiation, a state that could not be replicated by either agent on its own. After the tumor cells were differentiated, researchers harnessed both therapeutic agents, using bodily signals that typically induce mammary gland involution, to kill the TNBC cells. Machine learning was also used by investigators to predict how patients would respond to the treatment.

The findings could potentially pave the way for the use of this approach in clinical trials in patients, a crucial step toward improved treatment options, especially for TNBC patients for whom chemotherapy and other standard treatments may not be as effective.

Via a press release, Dr. Cichowski concluded that the results “provide compelling support for the development of clinical trials to test whether combining these agents could benefit patients with TNBC.”