Honors Theses

Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Degree Name

BS

Department

Biomedical Sciences

Faculty Mentor

Santanu Dasgupta, Ph.D.

Advisor(s)

Robin J. Mockett, Ph.D. and Alison Henry, Ph.D.

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-bound vesicles secreted by cells in the body that play an important role in intercellular signaling, immune modulation, and transfer of biomolecules between cells. EV s reflect the physiological state of their cells of origin, so they are being explored as potential noninvasive biomarkers for cancer detection and monitoring. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive subtype lacking targeted therapies, is difficult to detect early and currently has no reliable prognostic biomarkers. This study aimed to quantify EV concentrations in the blood serum of TNBC patients (n=40) compared with cancer-free healthy controls (n=35) as well as determine the clinical significance of EV distribution by subgrouping across age, grade, stage, and ethnicity to explore the potential of EVs as a noninvasive biomarker. EVs were isolated using differential centrifugation and quantified with Zetaview Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NT A). Observed EV concentrations revealed no statistically significant differences between patient and control groups in this dataset, as well as no significant differences across the different subgroups, with trends showing increased EV concentrations when grouping by age. EV cargo had increased levels of mtDNA and cardiolipin when comparing the TNBC patient samples to the healthy controls. These findings suggest that while EV concentration alone may not distinguish TNBC from healthy samples, EV cargo composition may provide more informative insight into the tumor microenvironment and tumor-specific biology, supporting its potential as an effective biomarker.

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