Patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) - defined by lack of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor expression as well as lack of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) amplification - have a poor prognosis.
This mini-review focuses on clinically relevant issues in the diagnosis of TNBC, including the importance of adherence to international guidelines for the detection of ER/PR/HER2 status, and the relationship between TNBC and the overlapping (yet distinct) intrinsic subtype of 'basal-like' breast cancer.
In addition, both BRCA1 carriers and BRCA2 carriers were more likely to exhibit triple-negative breast cancer (ER-, PgR-, and HER2-) than non-carriers (BRCA1 carriers vs. non-carriers, 69.2 vs. 23.0%, P = 0.001; BRCA2 carriers vs. non-carriers, 45.8 vs. 23.0%, P = 0.01).
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is very aggressive and currently has no specific therapeutic targets, such as hormone receptors or human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2); therefore, prognosis is poor.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), showing no or low expressions of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), and HER2, considered important clinical biomarkers, accounts for 10% to 20% of all breast cancers.
Triple-negative breast cancer [TNBC, which is negative for the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2] is a high-risk form of the disease without a specific therapy.
Finally, in clinical specimens of human breast cancer, we found that SOX4 was abnormally overexpressed and correlated with the triple-negative breast cancer subtype (ER(-)/PR(-)/HER2(-)).
Therefore, we screened 99 primary breast cancer samples by immunohistochemistry analysis using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded archival tumor tissues and confirmed that mesothelin was overexpressed in the majority of TNBC (67 %) but only rarely in <5 % ER(+) or Her2-neu(+) breast cancer, respectively.
Among the 298 tumors, the immunohistochemical panel classified 37 (12%) as luminal A, 198 (66%) as luminal B, 27 (9%) as HER2 enriched, and 36 (12%) as TNBC.
Patients with triple negative breast cancer (ER–/PR–/HER2–) expressed CD44+CD49f+CD133/2+ in 9 of 9 normal adjacent tissue samples compared with 7 of 52 ER+ and/or Her2+ tumors (P < 0.001).
The expression of STAT1 in tumor cells was higher in luminal-type cancers than in HER2+ and TNBC (P < 0.001), and the TNBC-type tumors showed the highest levels of stromal STAT1 expression (P < 0.001), stromal IL-8 expression (P = 0.005), and CD20 index (P < 0.001).
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by a lack of expression of both the estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor proteins as well as HER-2 and is often associated with particularly poor outcomes, early development of chemotherapy resistance, and ineffectiveness of targeted therapy.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an immunophenotype defined by the absence of immunolabeling for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2 protein, has a highly aggressive behavior.
Despite the common feature of negativity for the three most relevant receptors (ER, PgR and HER2), TNBC is a very heterogeneous disease where different subgroups can be recognized, and both gene and microRNA profiling studies have recently been carried out to dissect the different molecular entities.
Twenty kinds of miRNAs were homogenously distributed in the tumors from different clinicopathological subtypes that included 6 kinds of miRNAs in Luminal B Ki67+ and Luminal B Her2+ subtypes, 1 kind in Luminal B Ki67+ and Her2 overexpression subtypes, 10 kinds between Luminal B Ki67+ and TNBC subtypes, 2 kinds in Luminal B Her2+ and TNBC subtypes, and 1 kind between Luminal B Ki67+, Luminal B Her2+, and TNBC subtypes.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) lacks the three most commonly targeted receptors in human breast cancer--the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/neu--and it is associated with an aggressive natural history.
Based on the immunohistochemical expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone (PR), HER2, and Ki-67 labeling index, the cases were classified into luminal A, luminal B, HER2 and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
Our findings suggest a potential therapeutic use for deguelin in patients with triple-negative breast cancer and for those with breast cancers who are sensitive to endocrine- and HER2-targeted therapies.
Dysregulation and/or mutation of the miRNAs may also contribute to the TNBC susceptibility since it is associated with the expression of ER, PR and HER2.