[6]-Gingerol-Derived Semi-Synthetic Compound SSi6 Inhibits Tumor Growth and Metastatic Dissemination in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Xenograft Models

Simple Summary Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) represent approximately 15% of all breast cancers and lack the expression of a defined molecular target. This absence makes this subtype of cancer difficult to treat and control. Current chemotherapy drugs cause various side effects and toxicities that can jeopardize the quality of life of patients with TNBC cancer. Therefore, this research focuses on a new semi-synthetic compound derived from [6]-gingerol, where we demonstrate that it does not cause significant toxic effects in vivo and, more importantly, we demonstrate its antitumor and antimetastatic effects using preclinical xenograft models simulating two clinical scenarios of a woman with breast cancer. Breast cancer metastasis is the most common cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) form a heterogeneous group of tumors that have higher relapse rates and poorer survival compared to other breast cancer subtypes. Thus, this work reports the antitumor and antimetastatic activities of a [6]-gingerol-derived semi-synthetic compound named SSi6 on MDA-MB-231 TNBC cells using xenograft models. SSi6 did not cause toxic effects in vivo as demonstrated by body weight and hematological and histological evaluations. From the orthotopic xenograft model, we demonstrated that SSi6 slows and inhibits the growth of the primary tumor, as well as prevents metastatic spontaneous progression from lymph nodes to the lungs. Moreover, a second xenograft model with resection of the primary tumor showed that SSi6 also blocks the progression of metastases from the lymph nodes to other visceral organs. Taken together, our results demonstrate that SSi6 is a promising compound to be investigated in other preclinical and clinical models to be applied as a complementary therapy for TNBC.

Automated summary

This study focused on a semi-synthetic compound derived from [6]-gingerol, named SSi6, which demonstrated antitumor and antimetastatic effects in TNBC cells without causing significant toxic effects in vivo. Results showed that SSi6 effectively inhibited the growth of primary tumors and prevented metastatic progression from lymph nodes to lungs. Additionally, it blocked the progression of metastases from lymph nodes to other visceral organs in preclinical xenograft models, suggesting its potential as a complementary therapy for TNBC.