Rachil Khoury

Ms. Rachil Khoury

University of Ottawa, Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5
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Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

5Years (2022-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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17 January 2022 in Cancers
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Frederic St-Denis-BissonnetteFrederic St-Denis-Bissonnette
Frederic St-Denis-Bissonnette
RKRachil Khoury
Rachil Khoury
KMKaran Mediratta
Karan Mediratta
SESara El-Sahli
Sara El-Sahli
Lisheng WangLisheng Wang
Lisheng Wang
JLJessie R. Lavoie
Jessie R. Lavoie
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive and refractory subtype of breast cancer, often occurring in younger patients with poor clinical prognosis. Given the current lack of specific targets for effective intervention, the development of better treatment strategies remains an unmet medical need. Over the last decade, the field of extracellular vesicles (EVs) has grown tremendously, offering immense potential for clinical diagnosis/prognosis and therapeutic applications. While TNBC-EVs have been shown to play an important role in tumorigenesis, chemoresistance and metastasis, they could be repurposed as potential biomarkers for TNBC diagnosis and prognosis. Furthermore, EVs from various cell types can be utilized as nanoscale drug delivery systems (NDDS) for TNBC treatment. Remarkably, EVs generated from specific immune cell subsets have been shown to delay solid tumour growth and reduce tumour burden, suggesting a new immunotherapy approach for TNBC. Intrinsically, EVs can cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB), which holds great potential to treat the brain metastases diagnosed in one third of TNBC patients that remains a substantial clinical challenge. In this review, we present the most recent applications of EVs in TNBC as diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers, nanoscale drug delivery systems and immunotherapeutic agents, as well as discuss the associated challenges and future directions of EVs in cancer immunotherapy.