Triple negative breast cancer describes a particularly aggressive subtype of breast cancer. This entry briefly explains what this subtype is and the standard treatment recommendations for this subtype.
What is triple negative breast cancer?
Research has uncovered three so-called receptors in breast cancer that provide the fuel necessary for breast cancers to grow. These are:
- -- Estrogen receptors
- -- Progesterone receptors
- -- Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)
When treating most subtypes of breast cancer, doctors are able to identify one or more of these receptors, and targeted treatments can be arranged accordingly.
Patients with triple negative breast cancer do not have any of these receptors. This subtype of breast cancer is especially aggressive, and it is resistant to most types of targeted treatments. it is also more common for triple negative breast cancer to recur than it is for other subtypes of breast cancer to recur.
Triple negative breast cancer treatment
Patients with triple negative breast cancer can not be treated with two of the more notable and effective breast cancer treatments: Herceptin and hormone therapy.
Although triple negative breast cancer does not respond to these standard breast cancer treatments, it has fortunately been shown to be receptive to certain chemotherapeutic regimens, and therefore chemotherapy remains the primary treatment option. Perhaps the most established regimen is known as AC, featuring doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide, although some recent studies indicate that the addition of paclitaxel, docetaxel, of fluorouracil to this regimen may reduce the all-too-common risk of recurrence in this patient group.
Surgery and radiotherapy are other treatment options utilized for this patient population when an oncology team deems them appropriate.
Triple negative breast cancer treatments in the pipeline
The latest and most promising line of therapeutic drugs to treat patients with triple negative breast cancer are PARP inhibitors. PARP refers to an enzyme in the body that helps cells repair their DNA when damaged. Thus, PARP inhibitors prevent cancer cells from making those repairs, leading to the death of the cell.
Other potential avenues still under investigation include the use of Avastin (although this has recently come into question and remains inconclusive), as well as the monoclonal antibody Erbitux (cetuximab) and Sutent (sunitinib).
Sources
Winer EP, Mayer EL. Optimizing Treatment of 'Triple-Negative' Breast Cancer, 30th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, Triple Negative Breast Cancer
CancerTreatment.net, Triple Negative Breast Cancer Treatment
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