Researchers at the University of Mississippi have developed a novel approach to cancer treatment using sugar-coated nanoparticles that could significantly improve outcomes for patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The team, led by Assistant Professor Eden Tanner from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, published their findings in Advanced Healthcare Materials, demonstrating how coating cancer drug-carrying nanoparticles in sugar-like materials increases treatment efficacy.
Targeting Cancer's "Sweet Tooth"
Triple-negative breast cancer presents unique treatment challenges because it lacks three common therapeutic targets: estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors. This absence of typical targets has forced researchers to think creatively about treatment approaches. Tanner's team discovered that while TNBC cells may not express usual drug targets, they consistently overexpress glucose transporters.
"It doesn't have any of the usual targets we've developed therapies for. That means we really had to think creatively about how to treat it," Tanner explained. "One thing that is consistent across all of the patients (with triple-negative breast cancer) is that they overexpress glucose transporters to bring more sugars to the cells. Essentially, it has a sweet tooth. So, how can we get it to take its medicine? We wrap it in sugar."
Novel Drug Delivery Mechanism
The researchers' approach involves coating nanoparticle cancer treatments with sugar, essentially "tricking" cancer cells into uptaking the therapeutic payload. When these sugar-coated therapies enter the bloodstream, they can "hitch a ride" on red and white blood cells, traveling through the body until they become trapped by the cancer's glucose transporters.
"Because triple-negative breast cancer cells overexpress GLUT-transporters, there is more of an affinity between the nanoparticles and those cells," noted Ole Miss junior Mira Patel, co-author of the study. "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."
The selective targeting mechanism could potentially reduce the severe side effects typically associated with chemotherapy by focusing drug delivery on cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue.
Addressing a Critical Health Disparity
The research holds particular significance for Mississippi, which shows higher-than-average rates of triple-negative breast cancer. According to a 2024 study from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, 37% of breast cancer patients treated there between 2016 and 2023 had triple-negative breast cancer, more than double the national norm.
Triple-negative breast cancer disproportionately affects young women, especially African American women, making it an urgent priority for new treatment strategies. The aggressive nature of this cancer, combined with its resistance to several common therapies, results in higher fatality rates compared to other breast cancer subtypes.
Broader Therapeutic Potential
The sugar-coating strategy may extend beyond triple-negative breast cancer to other diseases that overexpress glucose transporters. "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 is exciting news for diseases like colon cancer, brain cancer, and fatty liver disease, which also have high levels of glucose transporters."
Patient Perspective and Future Implications
Triple-negative breast cancer survivor Tracy Gallagher expressed enthusiasm about the potential development, noting the significant impact current treatments have on patients' quality of life. "Stage one, two, or three, you still get chemo," Gallagher observed. "And so to think that we would have a therapy that wouldn't make you as sick as the red devil, which everybody normally has to have, is exciting. A lot of times, triple-negative affects young families, young mothers, and so it affects your whole life."
The researchers acknowledge that further evaluation of the delivery mechanism under disease conditions is necessary before clinical implementation. However, the proof-of-principle findings represent a promising step toward more targeted and potentially less toxic cancer treatments, particularly relevant for Mississippi's patient population given the state's elevated rates of triple-negative breast cancer.
