Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 May;16(7):983-98.
doi: 10.1517/14656566.2015.1032246.

Therapies for triple negative breast cancer

Eleni Andreopoulou, Sarah J Schweber, Joseph A Sparano, Hayley M McDaid
Review

Therapies for triple negative breast cancer

Eleni Andreopoulou et al. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2015 May.

Abstract

Introduction: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous disease associated with a high risk of recurrence, and therapeutic options are currently limited to cytotoxic therapy. Germ-line mutations may occur in up to 20% of unselected patients with TNBC, which may serve as a biomarker identifying which patients may have tumors that are particularly sensitive to platinums and/or inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase. A substantial proportion of patients with TNBCs not associated with germ-line BRCA mutations may have tumors that are ‘BRCA-like’, rendering those individuals potential candidates for similar strategies.

Areas covered: The purpose of this review is to highlight the current standard and experimental treatment strategies.

Expert opinion: Recent research that has illuminated the molecular heterogeneity of the disease rationalizes its diverse biological behavior and differential response to chemotherapy. Modern technology platforms provide molecular signatures that can be mined for therapeatic interventions. Target pathways that are commonly dysregulated in cancer cells control cellular processes such as apoptosis, proliferation, angiogenesis, DNA repair, cell cycle progression, immune modulation and invasion, and metastasis. Novel trial design and re-defined endpoints as surrogates to clinical outcome have been introduced to expedite the development of breakthrough therapies to treat high-risk early-stage breast cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interest

The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. PAM50 intrinsic subtype and TNBCtype
Most TNBC cases are classified as basal-like by PAM50, whereas TNBCtype identifies seven classes of TNBC. BL: Basal-like; LAR: Luminal androgen receptor/luminal-like; M: Mesenchymal; MSL: Mesenchymal-stem cell-like; TNBC: Triple negative breast cancer.
Figure 2
Figure 2. RCB index, a measure of the residual tumor burden after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, predicts risk of distant relapse at 5 years
For a given RCB score, ER patients have a higher risk of developing distant metastases than ER+ patients. Courtesy of W.F. Symmans, MD. ER: Estrogen receptor; RCB: Residual cancer burden.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bauer KR, Brown M, Cress RD, et al. Descriptive analysis of estrogen receptor (ER)-negative, progesterone receptor (PR)-negative, and HER2-negative invasive breast cancer, the so-called triple-negative phenotype: a population-based study from the California cancer Registry. Cancer. 2007;109(9):1721–8. - PubMed
    1. Hammond ME, Hayes DF, Dowsett M, et al. American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists guideline recommendations for immunohistochemical testing of estrogen and progesterone receptors in breast cancer (unabridged version) Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2010;134(7):e48–72. - PubMed
    1. Brown M, Tsodikov A, Bauer KR, et al. The role of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 in the survival of women with estrogen and progesterone receptor-negative, invasive breast cancer: the California Cancer Registry, 1999–2004. Cancer. 2008;112(4):737–47. - PubMed
    1. Nielsen TO, Hsu FD, Jensen K, et al. Immunohistochemical and clinical characterization of the basal-like subtype of invasive breast carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2004;10(16):5367–74. - PubMed
    1. Perou CM, Sorlie T, Eisen MB, et al. Molecular portraits of human breast tumours. Nature. 2000;406(6797):747–52. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources