UC San Diego

Liver metastasis is the most frequent cause of death from colon and other cancers. Generally, liver metastasis is recalcitrant to treatment. The aim of this study is to determine the efficacy of tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R on liver metastasis in orthotopic mouse models. HT-29 human colon cancer cells expressing red fluorescent protein (RFP) were used in the present study. S. typhimurium A1-R infected HT-29 cells in a time-dependent manner, inhibiting cancer-cell proliferation in vitro. S. typhimurium A1-R promoted tumor necrosis and inhibited tumor growth in a subcutaneous tumor mouse model of HT-29-RFP. In orthotopic mouse models, S. typhimurium A1-R targeted liver metastases and significantly reduced their growth. The results of this study demonstrate the future clinical potential of S. typhimurium A1-R targeting of liver metastasis.