The integrated treatment of photodynamic therapy and oncolytic Virotherapy: A dual-modal paradigm for breast Cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a serious threat to lives and health. We developed a dual approach of Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and Newcastle Disease Oncolytic Virus (NDV) to mediate killing effects and anti-tumor immune effects against TNBC. In this study, we firstly verified that PDT combined with NDV effectively eliminated tumor cells. Cloning formation analysis, western blot and flow cytometer demonstrated that PDT + NDV triggered tumor cells ROS stress, apoptosis and inhibition of proliferation. Moreover, PDT + NDV upregulated the IL-6, STAT3 and NF-κB, increased the expression of HMGB1 and TNF-α, triggerd immunogenic cell death and strengthened the pro-inflammatory microenvironment, thereby effectively activating anti-tumor immune responses and enhancing the infiltration of CD8⁺ T cells. Our research demonstrated the synergistic anti-tumor effects of combining PDT and NDV, offering a promising strategy for the treatment of TNBC.