Anthocyanidins Inhibit Growth and Chemosensitize Triple-Negative Breast Cancer via the NF-κB Signaling Pathway

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer. Due to the lack of drug-targetable receptors, chemotherapy is the only systemic treatment option. Although chemotherapeutic drugs respond initially in TNBC, many patients relapse and have a poor prognosis. Poor survival after metastatic relapse is largely attributed to the development of resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. In this study, we show that bilberry-derived anthocyanidins (Anthos) can inhibit the growth and metastasis of TNBC and chemosensitize paclitaxel (PAC)-resistant TNBC cells by modulating the NF-κB signaling pathway, as well as metastatic and angiogenic mediators. Anthos administered orally significantly decreased MDA-MB-231 orthoxenograft tumor volume and led to lower rates of lymph node and lung metastasis, compared to control. Treatment of PAC-resistant MDA-MB-231Tx cells with Anthos and PAC in combination lowered the IC50 of PAC by nearly 20-fold. The combination treatment also significantly (p < 0.01) decreased the tumor volume in MDA-MB-231Tx orthoxenografts, compared to control. In contrast, Anthos and PAC alone were ineffective against MDA-MB-231Tx tumors. Our approach of using Anthos to inhibit the growth and metastasis of breast cancers, as well as to chemosensitize PAC-resistant TNBC, provides a highly promising and effective strategy for the management of TNBC.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Dec 13, 2021
Source ID
10.3390/cancers13246248

Entities

People

  • Ashish Kumar Agrawal
  • Farrukh Aqil
  • Jeyaprakash Jeyabalan
  • Neha Tyagi
  • Radha Munagala
  • Ramesh C. Gupta
  • Shesh Rai

Organizations

  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Chemistry
  • Medicine

Readers

  • Oncology (Cancer Research).