Triple-negative breast cancer: Nitric oxide “scavengers” are being used by researchers

Researchers are looking into a potential new therapeutic approach for treating triple-negative breast cancer. Amir Abdo Alsharabasy, a CRAM doctorate candidate, is creating nitric oxide scavengers in Professor Abhay Pandit’s lab as part of a unique treatment approach for this aggressive form of breast cancer.

Triple-negative invasive breast cancer is resistant to hormone therapy and other HER2 protein-targeting therapies. Triple-negative breast cancer is typically more aggressive, more difficult to treat, and more likely to recur when compared to cancers that are hormone receptor-positive or HER2-positive.

“Nitric oxide, one of the primary free radicals created by tumour tissue, plays a crucial role in the evolution of breast cancer by stimulating the spread of cancer cells to other areas of the body at specific concentrations. As a potential novel treatment approach for triple-negative breast cancer, our goal is to develop injectable hydrogel formulations that can reduce or “scavenge” nitric oxide levels while enhancing carbon monoxide generation.

By stimulating the spread of cancer cells to other body parts at specific quantities, nitric oxide, one of the primary free radicals generated by tumour tissue, contributes significantly to the development of breast cancer.

Our objective is to produce injectable hydrogel formulations that can decrease or “scavenge” nitric oxide levels while increasing carbon monoxide generation, potentially leading to the development of a novel treatment strategy for triple-negative breast cancer.

HA “plays many roles in tumour tissues,” according to Amir. But there hasn’t been much study on how it works with nitric oxide. The study, which was just published in Biomacromolecules, tries to understand how these interactions work as well as how different effects on nitric oxide levels and breast cancer cell migration are affected.

Under the supervision of Prof. Abhay Pandit, Scientific Director of CRAM, the study was co-authored by Dr. Pau Farras from the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences in the Ryan Institute at the National University of Ireland Galway and Dr. Sharon Glynn from the Lambe Institute for Translational Research.

The study investigated the nitric oxide-scavenging abilities of HA. Nitric oxide cannot drive cancer cells into a tumour environment because, as the researchers discovered, it is transformed to particular nitrogen-centered free radicals when it interacts with the HA.

These results highlight the prospect of employing modified HA as a critical element in numerous biological applications and further our knowledge of how HA contributes in nitric oxide-induced cell migration.

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We are focusing on NO itself in an effort to avoid the side effects/reactions of these inhibitors, Professor Abhay Pandit said in response to the study. Recent developments in research regarding the roles of nitric oxide with tumour progression ultimately led to a number of ongoing clinical trials for evaluating the effects of NO-synthase inhibitors.

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