Treatment Timing of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Standing
Undergraduate
Type of Proposal
Oral Research Presentation
Challenges Theme
Building Viable, Healthy and Safe Communities
Faculty
Faculty of Science
Faculty Sponsor
Lisa Porter
Proposal
Breast cancer is the second highest cause of death from cancer in Canada. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 10-15% of all cases and has a poorer prognosis than other breast cancer subtypes. TNBC lacks expression of the estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), which are common therapeutic targets in breast cancer. The standard of care for treatment of TNBC instead consists of adriamycin (A), paclitaxel (T), carboplatin (Ca), and cyclophosphamide (C), to target various aspects of the cell cycle in order to induce cell cycle arrest. Timing of administration may affect cell cycle arrest, and alterations in cell cycle mediators may also influence the efficacy of treatment. The purpose of this study was to determine how the addition and timing of treatments influence the cell cycle and how this knowledge can be used to help determine more effective timing of treatment administrations. MDA-MB-231 TNBC cells were treated with AC, T, T+Ca, or Ca at various time points. Flow cytometry and Trypan Blue exclusion assay were used to determine cell cycle progression and proliferation rate. It was found that different combinations of drugs resulted in the arrest of cells at various phases of the cell cycle which may affect responsiveness to subsequent treatments. This information can be used to help determine the most effective timing of treatment and may help improve the 5-year survival rate of patients with TNBC.
Treatment Timing of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is the second highest cause of death from cancer in Canada. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 10-15% of all cases and has a poorer prognosis than other breast cancer subtypes. TNBC lacks expression of the estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), which are common therapeutic targets in breast cancer. The standard of care for treatment of TNBC instead consists of adriamycin (A), paclitaxel (T), carboplatin (Ca), and cyclophosphamide (C), to target various aspects of the cell cycle in order to induce cell cycle arrest. Timing of administration may affect cell cycle arrest, and alterations in cell cycle mediators may also influence the efficacy of treatment. The purpose of this study was to determine how the addition and timing of treatments influence the cell cycle and how this knowledge can be used to help determine more effective timing of treatment administrations. MDA-MB-231 TNBC cells were treated with AC, T, T+Ca, or Ca at various time points. Flow cytometry and Trypan Blue exclusion assay were used to determine cell cycle progression and proliferation rate. It was found that different combinations of drugs resulted in the arrest of cells at various phases of the cell cycle which may affect responsiveness to subsequent treatments. This information can be used to help determine the most effective timing of treatment and may help improve the 5-year survival rate of patients with TNBC.