Engineering Circulating Tumor Cells as Novel Cancer Theranostics.

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Gene Therapy
• Cancer Metastasis

Background:

• Metastatic disease requires novel therapeutic strategies.
• Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can home to primary tumor sites and metastases.
• Previous studies utilized self-homing CTCs in primary tumor models, but their efficacy in treating metastatic disease remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of systemically administered CTCs to home to metastatic lesions.
• To evaluate the use of engineered CTCs carrying a reporter gene and a cytotoxic prodrug gene therapy for visualizing and treating metastatic disease.

Main Methods:

• Utilized bioluminescence imaging (BLI) to track systemically administered CTCs.
• Explored the homing ability of CTCs to metastatic lesions in vivo.
• Assessed the therapeutic efficacy of CTCs engineered with a reporter and prodrug gene therapy system.

Main Results:

• BLI confirmed a significant homing ability of CTCs to metastatic tumors throughout the body.
• Mice treated with therapeutic CTCs exhibited reduced metastatic tumor burden compared to control groups.
• Engineered CTCs demonstrated the capacity to both visualize and treat metastatic disease.

Conclusions:

• Experimental CTCs possess a notable ability to home to disseminated breast cancer lesions.
• Incorporating a prodrug gene therapy system into self-homing CTCs shows promise for targeted gene-based therapeutics.
• This approach offers potential for effective treatment of both primary and metastatic cancer lesions.