Salmonella enterica Typhimurium engineered for nontoxic systemic colonization of autochthonous tumors

Abstract

Much of the bacterial anticancer therapy being developed relies on the ability of bacteria to specifically colonise tumours. Initial attempts to translate promising Salmonella enterica Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) preclinical results to the clinical setting failed, primarily due to lack of tumour colonisation and the significant toxicities from systemically administered Gram-negative bacteria. To address the difference in results between preclinical experiments performed in mice with transplant tumours and clinical trials in human volunteers with autochthonous tumours, a genetically engineered mouse model of breast cancer (BALB-neuT) was utilised to develop a strain of virulence-attenuated S. Typhimurium capable of robust colonisation of autochthonous tumours. Several genes that code for bacterial surface molecules, responsible for signalling a toxic immune response against the bacteria, were mutated. The resulting S. Typhimurium strain, BCT2, allowed non-toxic intravenous administration of 3 × 10⁶ colony forming units of bacteria in tumour-burdened mice when combined with a vascular disruption agent to induce intratumoral necrotic space and facilitate bacterial colonisation.

Keywords:

• Bacterial cancer therapy
• vascular disruption
• autochthonous tumour colonisation
• BALB-neuT
• virulence-attenuated Salmonella Typhimurium

Disclosure statement

Dr. Saltzman is the Chief Medical Officer of Salspera LLC – Microbial Based Immunotherapy.

Additional information

Funding

Funding was provided by the Hubbard Broadcasting Foundation, ProjectStealth.org, and the ASL Cancer Research Fund. The authors would like to thank Dr. Roy Curtiss for his kind gift of S. Typhimurium strain χ11091.