Inhibition of PTCH1 drug efflux activity enhances chemotherapy efficacy against triple negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive breast cancer subgroup characterized by a high risk of resistance to chemotherapies and high relapse potential. High levels of mRNA from the Hedgehog receptor PTCH1 are associated with poor prognosis in TNBC. PTCH1 is overexpressed in many aggressive cancers. We previously reported that PTCH1 is a multidrug transporter that triggers resistance to chemotherapy of adrenocortical carcinoma and melanoma cells, and that inhibiting PTCH1 drug efflux strongly enhanced chemotherapy efficacy on these cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. In the present study, we found that PTCH1 inhibition also significantly inhibited doxorubicin efflux in three TNBC cell lines leading to a strong increase of the cytotoxic effect of doxorubicin and docetaxel, and an inhibition of cell migration. Altogether, our data highlight the therapeutic potential of targeting PTCH1 drug efflux activity using drug association strategies for the treatment of TNBC patients.