Abstract
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly aggressive breast cancer type with no targeted therapy and hence limited treatment options. Modulated electrohyperthermia (mEHT) is a novel complementary therapy where a 13.56 MHz radiofrequency current targets cancer cells selectively, inducing tumor damage by thermal and electromagnetic effects. We observed severe vascular damage in mEHT-treated tumors and investigated the potential synergism between mEHT and inhibition of tumor vasculature recovery in our TNBC mouse model. 4T1/4T07 isografts were orthotopically inoculated and treated three to five times with mEHT. mEHT induced vascular damage 4-12 h after treatment, leading to tissue hypoxia detected at 24 h. Hypoxia in treated tumors induced an angiogenic recovery 24 h after the last treatment. Administration of the cardiac glycoside digoxin with the potential hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α (HIF1-α) and angiogenesis inhibitory effects could synergistically augment mEHT-mediated tumor damage and reduce tissue hypoxia signaling and consequent vascular recovery in mEHT-treated TNBC tumors. Conclusively, repeated mEHT induced vascular damage and hypoxic stress in TNBC that promoted vascular recovery. Inhibiting this hypoxic stress signaling enhanced the effectiveness of mEHT and may potentially enhance other forms of cancer treatment.