This review by Dr Minami and colleagues at UCLA appears in the open-access journal Breast Cancer: Basic and Clinical Research [Triple-negative refers to tumors lacking estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and HER-2/neu expression.]
Abstract:
Notorious for its poor prognosis and aggressive nature, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous disease entity. The nature of its biological specificity, which is similar to basal-like cancers, tumors arising in BRCA1 mutation carriers, and claudin-low cancers, is currently being explored in hopes of finding the targets for novel biologics and chemotherapeutic agents. In this review, we aim to give a broad overview of the disease’s nomenclature and epidemiology, as well as the basic mechanisms of emerging targeted therapies and their performance in clinical trials to date.
Of note:
Though not synonymous with basal-like carcinoma, a 77-85% overlap with TNBC is reported.
While TCNB and basal-like tumors have a generally poorer prognosis than other breast malignancies, subtypes exist, including a subtype with lower relapse tendency.
