The influence of drug treatment timing in triple-negative breast cancer

Standing

Graduate (Masters)

Type of Proposal

Poster Presentation

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Faculty Sponsor

Lisa Porter

Proposal

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer found in women, with 10-15% of these cases being triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). TNBC is identified as lacking three receptors (estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2) that are used in target therapy in breast cancer. Due to the lack of these receptors, generalized chemotherapy treatments must be used instead. The standard of care for TNBC includes three drugs (adriamycin and cyclophosphamide (AC), and paclitaxel (T)) that target certain areas of the cell and promote cell death. A fourth drug, carboplatin (Ca), can also be used in combination with paclitaxel in TNBC treatments. The purpose of this study was to determine how the order of drug treatments influence cell cycle and cell death rates of TNBC, and to determine the administrative timing of treatments that result in the highest efficacy. MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cell lines were used and treated with AC, T, T+Ca, or Ca at various time points. Cell cycle analysis and proliferation rates were determined using flow cytometry and Trypan Blue exclusion assay. Results demonstrated that a specific patterns of drugs (T/T+Ca) result in the lowest amount of live cells, indicating the cells responsiveness to treatments. This study can help to identify the most effective timing of TNBC drug treatments to increase the efficacy of treatments which may help increase the 5-year survival rate of patients with TNBC.

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The influence of drug treatment timing in triple-negative breast cancer

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer found in women, with 10-15% of these cases being triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). TNBC is identified as lacking three receptors (estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2) that are used in target therapy in breast cancer. Due to the lack of these receptors, generalized chemotherapy treatments must be used instead. The standard of care for TNBC includes three drugs (adriamycin and cyclophosphamide (AC), and paclitaxel (T)) that target certain areas of the cell and promote cell death. A fourth drug, carboplatin (Ca), can also be used in combination with paclitaxel in TNBC treatments. The purpose of this study was to determine how the order of drug treatments influence cell cycle and cell death rates of TNBC, and to determine the administrative timing of treatments that result in the highest efficacy. MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cell lines were used and treated with AC, T, T+Ca, or Ca at various time points. Cell cycle analysis and proliferation rates were determined using flow cytometry and Trypan Blue exclusion assay. Results demonstrated that a specific patterns of drugs (T/T+Ca) result in the lowest amount of live cells, indicating the cells responsiveness to treatments. This study can help to identify the most effective timing of TNBC drug treatments to increase the efficacy of treatments which may help increase the 5-year survival rate of patients with TNBC.