Role of docosahexaenoic acid in enhancement of docetaxel action in patient-derived breast cancer xenografts

The objective of this study was to investigate if DHA dietary supplementation enhances the anticancer actions of docetaxel (TXT) in two different drug resistant triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) patient-derived xenografts (PDX)s. In two experiments, female NSG mice bearing TNBC PDXs were randomized to one of two nutritionally adequate diets (20% w/w): control (0% DHA), or DHA (3.9% w/w of total fat) and injected with 0 or 5 mg/kg TXT, twice weekly for 6 weeks (n = 8 per group). Treatment response was determined by significant differences in tumor weight, and apoptotic, proliferation and cell cycle markers at endpoint. Mice bearing MAXF574 xenografts fed DHA diet and treated with TXT had a 57% reduction in tumor weight compared to mice fed control diet (P