Therapeutics: MicroRNA-10b (miR-10b)

In vitro and mouse studies suggest an miR-10b inhibitor plus doxorubicin could help treat metastatic breast cancer. Levels of miR-10b were higher in human metastatic breast cancer cell lines and in primary tumors from patients with metastatic breast cancer than in non-metastatic breast cancer cells and tumors from patients with non-metastatic breast cancer, respectively. In human metastatic cancer cell lines, nanoparticles loaded with an anti-miR-10b antisense oligonucleotide plus IV doxorubicin decreased cell proliferation and increased apoptosis compared with either agent alone. In an orthotopic mouse model of metastatic breast cancer, the nanoparticle-doxorubicin combination caused complete regression of lymph node metastases in all treated animals. Next steps include testing the combination in breast cancer patients...