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Review
. 2023 Feb 15;12(4):1524.
doi: 10.3390/jcm12041524.

Current Treatment Landscape for Early Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)

Jieun Lee  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Current Treatment Landscape for Early Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)

Jieun Lee. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 15-20% of all breast cancers and is characterized by an aggressive nature and a high rate of recurrence despite neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy. Although novel agents are constantly being introduced for the treatment of breast cancer, conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy based on anthracyclines and taxanes is the mainstay treatment option for TNBC. Based on CTNeoBC pooled analysis data, the achievement of pathologic CR (pCR) in TNBC is directly linked to improved survival outcomes. Therefore, the treatment paradigm for early TNBC has shifted to neoadjuvant treatment, and the escalation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy to improve the pCR rate and the addition of post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy to control the residual disease have been investigated. In this article, we review the current treatment landscape for early TNBC, from standard cytotoxic chemotherapy to recent data on immune checkpoint inhibitors, capecitabine, and olaparib.

Keywords: immune checkpoint inhibitor; neoadjuvant chemotherapy; triple-negative breast cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Suggested summarized systemic treatment flow for early TNBC patients. Abbreviations: TNBC, triple-negative breast cancer; ChT, chemotherapy; PC, paclitaxel + carboplatin; AC, anthracycline + cyclophosphamide; pCR, pathologic complete response; gBRCA, germline breast cancer gene; ICI, immune checkpoint inhibitor.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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