Development and Characterization of a Peptide-Bisphosphonate Nanoparticle for the Treatment of Breast Cancer.

In women, breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer, and despite advancements in diagnosis and treatment, 20-30% of early stage BC patients develop metastatic disease. Metastatic BC is deemed an incurable disease, which accounts for 90% of BC related deaths, with only 26% of metastatic patients reaching a 5 year survival rate. Therefore, there is an unmet need for the prevention or treatment of metastasis in early stage breast cancer patients. Bisphosphonates (BPs) are potent inhibitors of bone resorption and are extensively used for the prevention of osteoporosis and other skeletal disorders, as well as for the treatment of secondary bone cancer in BC patients. Furthermore, the direct anticancer activity of BPs has been established in primary tumor models. However, these studies were limited by the need for dosages far above the clinical range to overcome BPs' high affinity for bones and poor accumulation in the tumor itself, which leads to toxicity, including osteonecrosis of the jaw. To decrease BP dosage, increase bioavailability, and direct anticancer activity, we used the RALA (R-) peptide delivery system to form highly stable NPs with the nitrogen containing BP, risedronate (R-RIS). In vitro studies showed that, in comparison to RIS, R-RIS nanoparticles increased cytotoxicity and reduced metastatic features such as proliferation, migration, invasion, and adhesion of metastatic BC cells to bones. Furthermore, in an in vivo model, R-RIS had increased tumor accumulation while still maintaining similar bone accumulation to RIS alone. This increase in tumor accumulation corresponded with decreased tumor volume and lungs metastasis. R-RIS has great potential to be used in combination with standard of care chemotherapy for the treatment of primary BC and its metastasis while still having its bone resorption inhibiting properties.

Defining the molecular evolution of extrauterine high grade serous carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: High grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) is the most common and most aggressive, subtype of epithelial ovarian cancer. It presents as advanced stage disease with poor prognosis. Recent pathological evidence strongly suggests HGSC arises from the fallopian tube via the precursor lesion; serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC). However, further definition of the molecular evolution of HGSC has major implications for both clinical management and research. This study aims to more clearly define the molecular pathogenesis of HGSC. METHODS: Six cases of HGSC were identified at the Northern Ireland Gynaecological Cancer Centre (NIGCC) that each contained ovarian HGSC (HGSC), omental HGSC (OMT), STIC, normal fallopian tube epithelium (FTE) and normal ovarian surface epithelium (OSE). The relevant formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue samples were retrieved from the pathology archive via the Northern Ireland Biobank following attaining ethical approval (NIB11:005). Full microarray-based gene expression profiling was performed on the cohort. The resulting data was analysed bioinformatically and the results were validated in a HGSC-specific in-vitro model. RESULTS: The carcinogenesis of HGSC was investigated and showed the molecular profile of HGSC to be more closely related to normal FTE than OSE. STIC lesions also clustered closely with HGSC, indicating a common molecular origin. CONCLUSION: This study provides strong evidence suggesting that extrauterine HGSC arises from the fimbria of the distal fallopian tube. Furthermore, several potential pathways were identified which could be targeted by novel therapies for HGSC. These findings have significant translational relevance for both primary prevention and clinical management of the disease.