Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly aggressive
malignancy
that lacks effective targeted therapies. Inducing immunogenic cell
death (ICD) in tumor cells represents a promising strategy to enhance
therapeutic efficacy by promoting antitumor immunity. Paclitaxel (PTX),
a commonly used chemotherapy drug for TNBC, can induce ICD; however,
the resulting immunogenicity is limited. Thus, there is an urgent
need to explore strategies that improve the effectiveness of ICD in
TNBC by incorporating immunoregulatory agents. This study investigated
the potential of celecoxib (CXB) to enhance PTX-induced ICD by blocking
the biosynthesis of PGE2 in the tumor cells. We observed
that the combination of CXB and PTX promoted the maturation of dendritic
cells and primed a T cell-dependent immune response, leading to enhanced
tumor rejection in a vaccination assay. To further optimize drug delivery in vivo, we developed cRGD-modified liposomes for the targeted
codelivery of CXB and PTX. This delivery system significantly improved
drug accumulation and triggered robust antitumor immunity in an orthotopic
mouse model of TNBC. Moreover, it served as an in situ vaccine to
inhibit tumor recurrence and lung metastasis. Overall, our findings
provide in-depth insights into the therapeutic mechanism underlying
the combination of CXB and PTX, highlighting their potential as effective
immune-based therapies for TNBC.