Triple-negative breast cancer is particularly aggressive and difficult to treat; but recent research may offer a new way to target the often-deadly disease.
A team of researchers from the University of Mississippi found that coating nanoparticles containing cancer therapies in a sugar-like substance makes them more effective in targeting this cancer. They published their research in Advanced Healthcare Materials.
"It's called triple-negative because it does not have any of the three things that we have developed treatments to target in cancer," said Eden Tanner, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry. "It particularly affects young women, and it particularly affects Black and African American women .
"What that means is we really urgently need to think creatively about new ways to try and treat this cancer."
More than 1 in 10 breast cancer diagnoses are for triple-negative breast cancer. This cancer is particularly difficult to treat because it does not create high levels of estrogen, progesterone or the protein HER2, all of which are usually used to target cancer for drug delivery.
Mississippi's rates of triple-negative breast cancer are higher than average. A 2024 report from the University of Mississippi Medical Center showed that 37% of breast cancer cases treated at the center between 2016 and 2023 were triple-negative – more than double the national average.
The aggressive nature of this cancer, combined with its resistance to many usual therapies, means its mortality rate is higher than that of other cancers.
While this cancer may not elevate levels of usual drug targets, the research team found a novel way to deliver cancer therapies directly to the cancer cells.
"One thing that's consistent across all of the patients (with triple-negative breast cancer) is that they overexpress glucose transporters to bring more sugars to the cells," Tanner said. "Essentially, it has a sweet tooth. So, how can we get it to take its medicine? We wrap it in sugar."
By coating the nanoparticle cancer therapy in sugar, the researchers effectively "trick" the cancer into absorbing the medication, Tanner said.
"The drug itself is encapsulated in the nanoparticle, which is then coated in the glucose," said Mira Patel, a junior chemistry major from Vicksburg, Mississippi.
When injected into the bloodstream, these sugar-coated cancer therapies can "hitch a ride" on red and white blood cells, Tanner said. Riding the blood cells like a bus, the medication travels across the body and ultimately becomes trapped by the cancer's glucose transporters.
"Because triple-negative breast cancer cells overexpress GLUT-transporters, there's more of an affinity between the nanoparticles and those cells," said Patel, a co-author of the study who first joined the Tanner Lab through the ARISE Summer Program as a high school junior.
"This method could provide something that will change the way we treat this cancer in the future, and in a way that won't affect our regular, healthy cells."
Triple-negative breast cancer is not the only disease that overexpresses glucose transporters, meaning the drug delivery method could be used to treat other illnesses.
"We haven't tested the technology on those other diseases yet, but there's a good reason to believe that a similar strategy might work," Tanner said. "That's exciting news for diseases like colon cancer, brain cancer and fatty liver disease, which also have high levels of glucose transporters."
Before it can be put into practice, however, the researchers must test the delivery method in disease conditions. Given the prevalence of triple-negative breast cancer in the state, the results of their work could save lives in Mississippi.
"One of our strongest motivations as a research group is to think about scientific innovations that can really help Mississippians," Tanner said. "Given the profile of our state, we feel particularly motivated to address these problems."
This material is based on work supported by the National Institutes of Health grant no. P20GM130460.
