We recently demonstrated the antitumor efficacy of orally administered
alpha-tocopheryloxyacetic acid (alpha-
TEA), a redox silent and nonhydrolyzable derivative of naturally occurring
vitamin E. In order to move alpha-
TEA closer to the clinic to benefit patients with
breast cancer, the present study had two goals. First, to determine the minimal effective treatment dose; and second, to test the efficacy of dietary administration of alpha-
TEA in the clinically relevant MMTV-PyMT mouse model of spontaneous
breast cancer that more closely resembles human disease. The minimal effective dose of alpha-
TEA was evaluated in the transplantable 4T1
tumor model and we show a dose-dependent decrease of primary
tumor growth and reduction of metastatic spread to the lung. Six-week-old MMTV-PyMT mice were treated with oral alpha-
TEA for 9 weeks, with no apparent signs of
drug toxicity. The alpha-
TEA treatment delayed tumor development and significantly slowed
tumor progression, resulting in a 6-fold reduction of the average cumulative
tumor size. In addition, oral alpha-
TEA caused an 80% reduction in spontaneous
metastases. In situ analysis of
tumor tissue identified apoptosis as an important mechanism of alpha-
TEA-mediated
tumor suppression in addition to inhibition of
tumor cell proliferation. This study shows, for the first time, the ability of orally administered alpha-
TEA to delay
tumor onset and to inhibit the progression and metastatic spread of a clinically relevant model of spontaneous
breast cancer. Our finding of the high efficacy in this
tumor model highlights the translational potential of oral alpha-
TEA therapy.