In the ongoing battle against triple negative breast cancer, Vanderbilt researchers have uncovered a promising non-invasive method to track how tumors respond to radiation and immunotherapy, which uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer.
While immunotherapy offers hope, many patients do not respond to current treatments. The primary obstacle has been the ability to predict and monitor how individual tumors react to therapy, complicated by the significant heterogeneity observed across different patients, explains Marjan Rafat, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering.
A groundbreaking study, published in the journal Theranostics, demonstrates how ultrafast power doppler ultrasound (US) can provide critical insights into the complex vascular interactions within the tumor microenvironment, potentially revolutionizing personalized cancer treatment strategies.
“What sets this research apart is its ability to non-invasively track tumor changes that would be generally be detectable via biopsy or imaging methods that may not capture the full response. This ultrasound technique provides a window into a patient’s tumor response to treatment that may help inform clinical decisions more quickly,” said Shannon Martello, the paper’s lead author and a graduate student in Rafat’s Tumor and Tissue Microenvironment Lab.
The interdisciplinary team that includes researchers from the lab of Charles Caskey, associate professor of radiology and radiological sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and associate professor of biomedical engineering, developed an innovative approach using ultrafast power doppler ultrasound to monitor tumor vasculature in real-time of two breast cancer models—metastatic and non-metastatic. By tracking changes in blood vessel networks, researchers can now gain unprecedented insights into how tumors respond to radiation therapy.
The ultrasound measurements revealed a sustained decline in tumor vascular index following radiation therapy that correlated with a significant infiltration of CD8+ T cells into tumors. These particular T cells play a crucial role in immune defense against malignant cells. The team also detected an early increase in splenic CD8+ T cells post-radiation. The spleen serves as a key site for their activation and proliferation against blood-borne pathogens, and they also function in the immune system to kill cancerous cells.
“The findings suggest that ultrafast power doppler ultrasound could become a crucial tool in personalizing cancer treatment. By providing accurate indicators of treatment effectiveness, clinicians may be able to tailor therapies more rapidly and precisely,” Rafat said
While the research is preliminary, it opens exciting possibilities for improving patient outcomes in triple negative breast cancer treatment. Monitoring vascular changes to predict therapy response and shifts in the immune landscape of the tumor may improve outcomes for patients with limited treatment options.
This research was funded by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation Cancer Immunotherapy Award, NIH grants R00CA201304 and F31CA254311, and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Grant Nos.1937963 and 2444112. This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, or Focused Ultrasound Foundation.
Contact: brenda.ellis@vanderbilt.edu