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
. 2019 Aug 2:8:F1000 Faculty Rev-1342.
doi: 10.12688/f1000research.18888.1. eCollection 2019.

Triple-negative breast cancer: recent treatment advances

Alice R T Bergin  1 , Sherene Loi  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Triple-negative breast cancer: recent treatment advances

Alice R T Bergin et al. F1000Res. .

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a breast cancer subtype renowned for its capacity to affect younger women, metastasise early despite optimal adjuvant treatment and carry a poor prognosis. Neoadjuvant therapy has focused on combinations of systemic agents to optimise pathological complete response. Treatment algorithms now guide the management of patients with or without residual disease, but metastatic TNBC continues to harbour a poor prognosis. Innovative, multi-drug combination systemic therapies in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings have led to significant improvements in outcomes, particularly over the past decade. Recently published advances in the treatment of metastatic TNBC have shown impressive results with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors and immunotherapy agents. Immunotherapy agents in combination with traditional systemic chemotherapy have been shown to alter the natural history of this devastating condition, particularly in patients whose tumours are positive for programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1).

Keywords: Immunotherapy; Triple negative breast cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: AB has received travel funding from Pfizer. SL receives research funding to her institution from Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Roche-Genentech, Puma Biotechnology and Pfizer. She has acted as consultant (not compensated) to Seattle Genetics, Pfizer, Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck and Roche-Genentech.Competing interests: Heather McArthur has previously consulted or had an advisory role for Merck, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Lilly, Amgen, Immunomedics, Pfizer, Genentech, Bristol-Meyers Squibb and Genomic Health. Additionally, Heather was on the expert panel for Lilly in 2017.No competing interests were disclosed.

References

    1. Pareja F, Reis-Filho JS: Triple-negative breast cancers - a panoply of cancer types. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2018;15(6):347–8. 10.1038/s41571-018-0001-7 - DOI - PubMed

    2. F1000 Recommendation

    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. J Clin Oncol. 2010;28(16):2784–95. 10.1200/JCO.2009.25.6529 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

    2. F1000 Recommendation

    1. Wolff AC, Hammond MEH, Allison KH, et al. : Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 Testing in Breast Cancer: American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists Clinical Practice Guideline Focused Update. J Clin Oncol. 2018;36(20):2105–22. 10.1200/JCO.2018.77.8738 - DOI - PubMed

    2. F1000 Recommendation

    1. Foulkes WD, Smith IE, Reis-Filho JS: Triple-negative breast cancer. N Engl J Med. 2010;363(20):1938–48. 10.1056/NEJMra1001389 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Haffty BG, Yang Q, Reiss M, et al. : Locoregional relapse and distant metastasis in conservatively managed triple negative early-stage breast cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2006;24(36):5652–7. 10.1200/JCO.2006.06.5664 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types