Abstract
Background:
A human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) vaccine is a promising anti-angiogenesis therapy, but the modest therapeutic antitumor efficacy restricts its clinical use. Preclinical evidence supports the combination of antiangiogenic agents and chemotherapy for cancer treatment.
Materials and Methods:
In the present study, docetaxel (DOC) was combined with HUVEC vaccine to develop a HUVEC–DOC treatment regime. This study was designed to investigate the synergistic anti-breast cancer effects and mechanisms of the HUVEC–DOC treatment.
Results:
Compared with either agent monotherapy, HUVEC–DOC treatment exhibited more favorable anti-EMT-6 breast cancer effects in vivo. CD31 immunohistochemical analysis of the excised tumors showed notable decreases in vessel density after HUVEC–DOC administration, while T cells isolated from mice immunized with HUVEC–DOC showed increased cytotoxicity against HUVECs. Furthermore, the quantity of interferon gamma released from HUVEC–DOC-administered mice was significantly higher than the other three groups, and enhanced CD8+ T cell infiltration was observed more frequently in tumors excised from HUVEC–DOC-treated mice. Finally, the percentage of regulatory T cells was significantly decreased after HUVEC–DOC immunization.
Conclusions:
All the data verified that combining DOC with a HUVEC vaccine could generate synergistic anti-breast cancer activity, which might have the potential for combination treatment of human breast cancer.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.