Therapeutic Hope for Triple-negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) Patients

Unique metabolic vulnerabilities (metabolic enzyme and pathway) in subsets of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients have been discovered by a study.

Unique metabolic vulnerabilities (metabolic enzyme and pathway) in subsets of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients have been discovered by a study at the Boston University School of Medicine, published online in the journal Communications Biology.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is known as the most aggressive form of breast cancer, disproportionally affecting young Black women. The disease metastasizes quickly with high relapse and mortality rates.

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‘Unique metabolic vulnerabilities (metabolic enzyme and pathway) in subsets of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients have been discovered by a study. ’

Therapeutic Options for TNBC

The team analyzed human patient TNBC samples, human cell lines, including those injected into animals to define the contribution of DLST (dihydrolipoamide S-Succinyltransferase---a metabolic enzyme in their tumor cells) to TNBC pathogenesis.

Further broad biochemical and molecular assays were utilized to comprehend the metabolic and molecular properties of TNBC cells.

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Triple-negative breast cancers are ER negative, PR negative, and lack overexpression of HER-2. They are difficult to treat and are very aggressive.

“Due to current challenges in treating triple-negative breast cancer, our studies suggest that a fraction of patients with aggressive tumors can benefit from CPI-613, a drug disrupting the TCA cycle if their tumor cells have high DLST expression,” says corresponding author Hui Feng, MD, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and medicine at Boston University School of Medicine.

These findings could serve as a biomarker to select patients to receive targeted therapy.

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Source-Medindia

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