Triple-negative breast cancer is a kind of breast cancer that does not have any of the receptors that are commonly found in breast cancer. Think of cancer cells as a house. The front door may have three kinds of locks, called receptors— One is for the female hormone estrogen.
Is triple negative cancer curable?
Triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive form of breast cancer that may not respond to treatments that are effective against other forms of breast cancer. With early detection, a doctor may be able to cure it with aggressive treatment.
What is the survival rate of triple-negative breast cancer?
In general, about 91% of all women with triple-negative breast cancer are still alive 5 years after diagnosis. If the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes near the breast (regional) the 5 year relative survival rate is about 65%. If the cancer has spread to distant places, the 5 year relative survival rate is 12%.
What is the cause of triple-negative breast cancer?
What causes triple negative breast cancer? Researchers don’t know what causes TNBC, but they think BRCA1 genetic mutation might play a part. The BRCA1 gene is meant to prevent cancer. When it mutates, however, the gene reverses course and makes your cells more vulnerable to cancer.
Is triple-negative breast cancer hardest to treat?
Triple-negative breast cancer is usually more aggressive, harder to treat, and more likely to come back (recur) than cancers that are hormone receptor-positive or HER2-positive. The symptoms, staging, diagnosis, and survivorship care for triple-negative breast cancer are the same as other invasive ductal carcinomas.
What is the deadliest form of breast cancer?
Metastatic Breast Cancer
The most serious and dangerous breast cancers – wherever they arise or whatever their type – are metastatic cancers. Metastasis means that the cancer has spread from the place where it started into other tissues distant from the original tumor site.
Is chemo Worth it for triple-negative breast cancer?
Chemotherapy is often recommended for treating triple negative breast cancer. Unlike most other types of breast cancer, triple negative breast cancer does not respond to the presence of certain hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, nor does it have an abnormally high level of HER2 receptors.
Is triple-negative breast cancer serious?
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is considered an aggressive cancer because it grows quickly, is more likely to have spread at the time it’s found, and is more likely to come back after treatment than other types of breast cancer. The outlook is generally not as good as it is for other types of breast cancer.
How rare is triple negative cancer?
About 10 to 15 percent of all breast cancers are triple-negative. Its name signifies that cancer cells have tested negative for three molecular components of breast cancer cells—receptors for the hormones estrogen and progesterone, and the protein called human epidermal growth factor, or HER2.
Where does triple-negative breast cancer spread first?
Route of first metastasis correlated significantly with survival of TNBC patients with brain metastases being the poorest survival indicator, followed by metastases to liver, pleura, bone, and lung.
Does triple-negative breast cancer run in family?
In the general population, women diagnosed with breast cancer have a 5 to 10 percent chance that their cancer is hereditary. But if you’re found to have triple-negative breast cancer, the chance your disease is passed on through your genes can be closer to 30 percent.
What is the best treatment for triple-negative breast cancer?
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) doesn’t have estrogen or progesterone receptors and also makes too little or none of the HER2 protein. Because the cancer cells don’t have these proteins, hormone therapy and drugs that target HER2 are not helpful, so chemotherapy (chemo) is the main systemic treatment option.
Is triple-negative breast cancer caused by lifestyle?
Smoking and body mass index were differentially associated with likelihood of triple negative breast cancer compared to the Luminal A subtype (p= 0.013; p= 0.004): Women who ever smoked some time in their lives were 4.016 (OR= 0.249; CI 95%: 0.09- 0.71) times less likely to have triple negative breast cancer.
How often does triple-negative breast cancer come back?
Sixty percent of patients with triple-negative breast cancer will survive more than five years without disease, but four out of ten women will have a rapid recurrence of the disease.
Who survived triple-negative breast cancer?
Cindy Gwynn, a survivor of triple-negative breast cancer, believes hope was a driving force of her beating the disease – but she also knows there was a lot more to it. Cindy was 48 years old when she was diagnosed with one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer.
Is triple negative a death sentence?
“Triple negative is not a death sentence. Many of us are still thriving after diagnosis.” “TNBC has a ‘poorer’ prognosis, but not a ‘poor’ one.”
How long is chemo for triple-negative breast cancer?
A standard triple-negative chemo regimen is 12 weeks of taxol, followed by four doses of adriamycin and cytoxan.
Who is most likely to get triple-negative breast cancer?
The disease can affect anyone, but is more likely to show up in those who are: Younger than age 50 (most receptor-positive breast cancers show up in people age 60 and older). Black or Latinx. Living with a genetic condition called BRCA mutation that increases the risk for breast cancer and other forms of cancer.
Is triple-negative breast cancer more likely to spread?
Triple-negative breast cancers tend to grow and spread more quickly than other types of breast cancer. Because of this, triple-negative breast cancer is considered to be more aggressive than other forms of breast cancer.
What are the symptoms of triple-negative breast cancer?
Symptoms of triple negative breast cancer
a new lump or thickening in your breast or armpit. a change in size, shape or feel of your breast. skin changes in the breast such as puckering, dimpling, a rash or redness of the skin. fluid leaking from the nipple in a woman who isn’t pregnant or breast feeding.
Is triple negative worse than triple positive?
Background: Triple negative (TN) and triple positive (TP) breast cancers both are aggressive types but TN generally has a shorter survival.