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Triple Negative Breast Cancer



It is now commonly understood that breast cancer is not one form of cancer, but many different "subtypes" of cancer.[1] These subtypes of breast cancer are generally diagnosed based upon the presence, or lack of, three "receptors" known to fuel most breast cancers: estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and Her2/neu.[2] The most successful treatments for breast cancer target these receptors.[3]

Unfortunately, none of these receptors are found in women with triple negative breast cancer. A triple negative breast cancer diagnosis means that the offending tumor is estrogen receptor-negative, progesterone receptor-negative and HER2-negative, thus giving rise to the name "triple negative breast cancer."[4] On a positive note, this type of breast cancer is typically responsive to chemotherapy.[5] Because of its triple negative status, however, triple negative tumors generally do not respond to receptor targeted treatments.[6] Depending on the stage of its diagnosis, triple negative breast cancer can be particularly aggressive, and more likely to recur than other subtypes of breast cancer.[7]

Triple negative breast cancer accounts for approximately 15% of all breast cancer cases.[8] It occurs most often in African American and younger women.[9] Because it is a recently recognized form of breast cancer, there is very little known about its pathology.[10] Thus, there is an urgent need for targeted research and better treatment options for this disease.[11]

Basal-like carcinoma

It is currently understood that triple-negative tumors are composed of several distinct pathologic groups, the largest called basal-like carcinoma of the breast. This newly proposed category of breast cancer is defined on the basis of its gene expression and protein expression profile.

References

  1. ^ [1] [2]
  2. ^ [3]
  3. ^ [4]
  4. ^ [5][6]
  5. ^ [7]
  6. ^ [8][9]
  7. ^ [10][11][12]
  8. ^ [13]
  9. ^ [14][15][16][17]
  10. ^ [18]
  11. ^ [19]

See also

Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation

 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Triple_Negative_Breast_Cancer". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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