Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogenous disease classified into four molecular subtypes (Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2 and triple-negative (TNBC)) depending on the expression of the estrogen receptor (ER), the progesterone receptor (PR) and the human epidermal receptor 2 (HER2). The development of effective treatments for BC, especially TNBC, remains a challenge. Aminosteroid derivative RM-581 has previously shown an antiproliferative effect in multiple cancers in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we evaluated its effect in BC cell lines representative of BC molecular subtypes, including metastatic TNBC. We found that RM-581 has an antiproliferative effect on all BC molecular subtypes, especially on Luminal A and TNBC, in 2D and 3D cultures. The combination of RM-581 and trastuzumab or trastuzumab-emtansine enhanced the anticancer effect of each drug for HER2-positive BC cell lines, and the combination of RM-581 and taxanes (docetaxel or paclitaxel) improved the antiproliferative effect of RM-581 in TNBC and metastatic TNBC cell lines. We also confirmed that RM-581 is an endoplasmic reticulum (EnR)-stress aggravator by inducing an increase in EnR-stress-induced apoptosis markers such as BIP/GRP78 and CHOP and disrupting lipid homeostasis. This study demonstrates that RM-581 could be effective for the treatment of BC, especially TNBC.
Keywords: aminosteroid; breast cancer; breast cancer treatment; endoplasmic reticulum stress; personalized therapy; spheroid; triple-negative breast cancer.