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Review
. 2016 Sep;19(3):223-230.
doi: 10.4048/jbc.2016.19.3.223. Epub 2016 Sep 23.

Molecular Classification of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Sung Gwe Ahn  1 , Seung Jun Kim  2 , Cheungyeul Kim  3 , Joon Jeong  1
Affiliations
Review

Molecular Classification of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Sung Gwe Ahn et al. J Breast Cancer. 2016 Sep.

Abstract

Tumor heterogeneity of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has been the main barrier in conquering breast cancer. To dissect the molecular diversity of TNBC and discover therapeutic targets for TNBC, the molecular classification of TNBC is a prioritized issue in research area. Accordingly, recent studies have been successful in classifying TNBC into several distinct subtypes with specific biologic pathways. Despite the different methodologies used and varied number of final subtypes, these studies identically suggested that TNBC consists of four major subtypes: basal-like, mesenchymal, luminal androgen receptor, and immune-enriched. By reviewing these methods of classifications of TNBC, we highlight the unmet need to develop a molecular classifier suited for TNBC.

Keywords: Breast neoplasms; Gene expression; Triple negative breast neoplasms.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Distributions of the Vanderbilt subtypes using TNBCtype in Korean women with triple-negative breast cancer (n=45).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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