EXTH-03. IODINE NANOPARTICLE RADIOTHERAPY OF HUMAN BREAST CANCER GROWING IN THE BRAINS OF ATHYMIC MICE

Abstract

Abstract About 30% of breast cancers metastasize to brain; those widely disseminated are fatal typically in 3–4 months, even with the best available surgery, drugs, and radiotherapy. To address this dire situation, we have developed iodine nanoparticles (INPs) that target brain tumors after intravenous (IV) injection. The iodine then absorbs X-rays during radiotherapy (RT), creating free radicals and local tumor damage, effectively boosting the local RT dose at the tumor. Efficacy was tested using the very aggressive human triple negative breast cancer (TNBC, MDA-MB-231 cells) growing in the brains of athymic nude mice. With a well-tolerated non-toxic IV dose of the INPs (7 g iodine/kg body weight), tumors showed a heavily iodinated rim surrounding the tumor having an average uptake of 2.9% iodine by weight (peaks at 4.5%), calculated to provide dose enhancement factors of ~5.5 (peaks at 8.0) -- the highest ever reported for any radio-sensitizing agents. With 15 Gy, single dose RT, all animals died by 72 days; INP pretreatment resulted in longer-term remissions with 40% of mice surviving 150 days and 30% surviving > 280 days. Fluorescence confocal microscopy revealed most INP staining co-localized with CD31in the tumor center and periphery. Greatest INP/CD31 staining was in the tumor periphery, the region of increased MicroCT contrast. Tumor cells line irregularly-shaped spaces (ISS) with INP, CD31 staining very close to or on the tumor cell surface and PAS stain on their boundary and may represent a unique form of CD31-expressing vascular mimicry in intracerebral 231-tumors. INP/CD31 co-staining is also seen around ISS formed around tumor cells migrating on CD31+blood-vessels. The significant radiation dose enhancement to the prolific INP-binding ISS found throughout the tumor but concentrated in the tumor rim, may contribute significantly to the life extensions observed after INP-RT; VM could represent a new NP, particularly INP, tumor-homing target.