Fabrication and Characterization of Tumor Nano-Lysate as a Preventative Vaccine for Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, with late stages associated with the lowest survival rates. The latest stage, defined as metastasis, accounts for 90% of all cancer-related deaths. There is a strong need to develop antimetastatic therapies. TRAIL, or TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand, has been used as an antimetastatic therapy in the past, and conjugating TRAIL to nanoscale liposomes has been shown to enhance its targeting efficacy. When circulating tumor cells (CTCs) released during metastasis are exposed to TRAIL-conjugated liposomes and physiologically relevant fluid shear stress, this results in rapid cancer cell destruction into cell fragments. We sought to artificially recreate this phenomenon using probe sonication to mechanically disrupt cancer cells and characterized the resulting cell fragments, termed "tumor nano-lysate", with respect to size, charge, morphology, and composition. Furthermore, an in vivo pilot study was performed to investigate the efficacy of tumor nano-lysate as a preventative vaccine for breast cancer in an immunocompetent mouse model.