Triple-negative breast cancer, or TNBC, is one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer. It lacks the three main receptors—estrogen, progesterone, and HER2—that are often targeted in other breast cancer treatments.
Because of this, patients with TNBC usually receive standard chemotherapy. While many patients respond at first, the cancer often comes back quickly. This is believed to be due to cancer stem-like cells that survive the treatment and help the cancer spread.
In an exciting discovery, scientists from Korea University, led by Professor Jae Hong Seo, found that a commonly used cholesterol-lowering drug called pitavastatin might help fight TNBC. The study was published in the journal Experimental Hematology & Oncology.
The team found that pitavastatin can directly block a protein called Mcl-1, which helps cancer cells survive and resist chemotherapy. Mcl-1 also helps cancer stem-like cells grow and spread. Blocking this protein could be a major step in treating TNBC more effectively.
The researchers used advanced computer modeling and lab experiments to show that pitavastatin attaches to a specific part of the Mcl-1 protein. This weakens the protein and causes damage to the cancer cells’ energy centers, the mitochondria. This damage triggers a series of events that lead to cancer cell death.
Pitavastatin didn’t just kill regular cancer cells—it also targeted cancer stem-like cells. These special cells are known for helping cancer grow back and spread. The drug reduced markers of stem-like cells and stopped the growth of tumor cell clusters in lab models. It also worked well in TNBC tumor samples taken from patients.
In experiments with mice, pitavastatin reduced the size of tumors and the number of cancer cells spreading to the lungs. It didn’t harm the animals’ organs or cause weight loss, which shows it may be safe.
Tumor samples from the treated mice showed fewer cancer cell growth markers and more signs of cell death. The drug also lowered the levels of substances in the blood that help cancer spread, including MMP-2, MMP-9, and VEGF.
One of the most exciting parts of the study was pitavastatin’s effect on TNBC cells that had become resistant to paclitaxel, a common chemotherapy drug. These resistant cells usually have high levels of Mcl-1 and other survival signals. Pitavastatin was still able to kill these resistant cells, block the harmful proteins, and restart the natural process of cell death.
Even more promising, when researchers combined pitavastatin with paclitaxel, the two drugs worked better together than either drug alone. The combination slowed the growth of TNBC tumors in lab-grown models more effectively and may offer a new treatment option.
Professor Seo and his team believe this is a strong case for “drug repurposing”—using a medicine that’s already approved for one condition to treat another. Since pitavastatin is already used to treat high cholesterol and has a well-known safety record, it could be quickly tested in clinical trials for cancer.
This study offers hope for patients with one of the toughest types of breast cancer. With further testing, pitavastatin could become a new, powerful weapon against TNBC, especially in cases where chemotherapy no longer works.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about how vitamin D influences cholesterol levels, and what we know about egg intake and heart disease.
For more health information, please see recent studies about best supplements for heart disease prevention, and wild blueberries can benefit your heart and brain.
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