Triple Negative Breast Cancer Pathologic Diagnosis and Current Chemotherapy Treatment Options

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo L Rapoport ◽  
Simon Nayler ◽  
Georgia S Demetriou ◽  
Shun D Moodley ◽  
Carol A Benn ◽  
...  

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) comprises 12–20 % of all breast cancers and are a heterogeneous group of tumours, both clinically and pathologically. These cancers are characterised by the lack of expression of the hormone receptors oestrogen receptor (OR) and progesterone receptor (PR), combined with the lack of either overexpression or amplification of the human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) gene. Conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy and DNA damaging agents continue to be the mainstay of treatment of this disease in the neoadjuvant, adjuvant and metastatic setting. The lack of predictive markers in identifying potential targets for the treatment of TNBC has left a gap in directed therapy in these patients. Platinum agents have seen renewed interest in TNBC based on an increasing body of preclinical and clinical data suggesting encouraging activity. However, comparisons between chemotherapy regimens are mostly retrospective in nature and the best agents or drug combinations for TNBC have not been established in prospective randomised trials. Numerous studies have now shown that TNBC has significantly higher pathological complete response (pCR) rates compared with hormone receptor positive breast cancer when treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and pCR correlates well with better outcomes for these patients. Patients with TNBC account for a larger number of deaths in the setting of metastatic breast cancer. There is no preferred treatment for the first-line metastatic setting. Although individual agents are recommended, given the often aggressive nature of TNBC and the presence of extensive visceral disease, the use of a combination of drugs, rather than a single agent, is often advocated. This review article will outline the pathological diagnosis of TNBC and the treatment options available to these patients in the neoadjuvant, adjuvant and metastatic setting, including an assessment of future directions of treatment.

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Bernardo L Rapoport ◽  
Simon Nayler ◽  
Georgia S Demetriou ◽  
Shun D Moodley ◽  
Carol A Benn ◽  
...  

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) comprises 12–20 % of all breast cancers and are a heterogeneous group of tumors, both clinically and pathologically. These cancers are characterized by the lack of expression of the hormone receptors estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR), combined with the lack of either overexpression or amplification of the human epidermal growth factor receptor-2(HER2)gene. Conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy and DNA damaging agents continue to be the mainstay of treatment of this disease in the neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and metastatic setting. The lack of predictive markers in identifying potential targets for the treatment of TNBC has left a gap in directed therapy in these patients. Platinum agents have seen renewed interest in TNBC based on an increasing body of preclinical and clinical data suggesting encouraging activity. However, comparisons between chemotherapy regimens are mostly retrospective in nature and the best agents or drug combinations for TNBC have not been established in prospective randomized trials. Numerous studies have now shown that TNBC has significantly higher pathologic complete response (pCR) rates compared with hormone receptor positive breast cancer when treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and pCR correlates well with better outcomes for these patients. Patients with TNBC account for a larger number of deaths in the setting of metastatic breast cancer. There is no preferred treatment for the first-line metastatic setting. Although individual agents are recommended, given the often aggressive nature of TNBC and the presence of extensive visceral disease, the use of a combination of drugs, rather than a single agent, is often advocated. This review article will outline the pathologic diagnosis of TNBC and the treatment options available to these patients in the neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and metastatic setting, including an assessment of future directions of treatment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. BCBCR.S32783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon B. Zeichner ◽  
Hiromi Terawaki ◽  
Keerthi Gogineni

Patients with breast cancer along with metastatic estrogen and progesterone receptor (ER/PR)- and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative tumors are referred to as having metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC) disease. Although there have been many new treatment options approved by the Food and Drug Administration for ER/PR-positive and Her2/neu-amplified metastatic breast cancer, relatively few new agents have been approved for patients with mTNBC. There have been several head-to-head chemotherapy trials performed within the metastatic setting, and much of what is applied in clinical practice is extrapolated from chemotherapy trials in the adjuvant setting, with taxanes and anthracyclines incorporated early on in the patient's treatment course. Select synergistic combinations can produce faster and more significant response rates compared with monotherapy and are typically used in the setting of visceral threat or symptomatic disease. Preclinical studies have implicated other possible targets and mechanisms in mTNBC. Ongoing clinical trials are underway assessing new chemotherapeutic strategies and agents, including targeted therapy and immunotherapy. In this review, we evaluate the standard systemic and future treatment options in mTNBC.


Author(s):  
Lisa Agnello ◽  
Silvia Tortorella ◽  
Annachiara d’Argenio ◽  
Clarissa Carbone ◽  
Simona Camorani ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Management of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is still challenging because of its aggressive clinical behavior and limited targeted treatment options. Cisplatin represents a promising chemotherapeutic compound in neoadjuvant approaches and in the metastatic setting, but its use is limited by scarce bioavailability, severe systemic side effects and drug resistance. Novel site-directed aptamer-based nanotherapeutics have the potential to overcome obstacles of chemotherapy. In this study we investigated the tumor targeting and the anti-tumorigenic effectiveness of novel cisplatin-loaded and aptamer-decorated nanosystems in TNBC. Methods Nanotechnological procedures were applied to entrap cisplatin at high efficacy into polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) that were conjugated on their surface with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) selective and cell-internalizing CL4 aptamer to improve targeted therapy. Internalization into TNBC MDA-MB-231 and BT-549 cells of aptamer-decorated PNPs, loaded with BODIPY505-515, was monitored by confocal microscopy using EGFR-depleted cells as negative control. Tumor targeting and biodistribution was evaluated by fluorescence reflectance imaging upon intravenously injection of Cyanine7-labeled nanovectors in nude mice bearing subcutaneous MDA-MB-231 tumors. Cytotoxicity of cisplatin-loaded PNPs toward TNBC cells was evaluated by MTT assay and the antitumor effect was assessed by tumor growth experiments in vivo and ex vivo analyses. Results We demonstrate specific, high and rapid uptake into EGFR-positive TNBC cells of CL4-conjugated fluorescent PNPs which, when loaded with cisplatin, resulted considerably more cytotoxic than the free drug and nanovectors either unconjugated or conjugated with a scrambled aptamer. Importantly, animal studies showed that the CL4-equipped PNPs achieve significantly higher tumor targeting efficiency and enhanced therapeutic effects, without any signs of systemic toxicity, compared with free cisplatin and untargeted PNPs. Conclusions Our study proposes novel and safe drug-loaded targeted nanosystems for EGFR-positive TNBC with excellent potential for the application in cancer diagnosis and therapy.


F1000Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 1649
Author(s):  
Paulo Luz ◽  
David Dias ◽  
Ana Fortuna ◽  
Luis Bretes ◽  
Beatriz Gosalbez

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) has been shown to respond to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). It has been established that achieving pathological complete response (pCR) for certain aggressive subtypes of breast cancer, including HER-2 (over-expressed) and TNBC, provides an important surrogate marker for predicting long-term clinical response and survival outcomes. How to increase the number of patients that achieve pCR remains challenging. Platinum-based NACT seems to be part of the solution and capecitabine, an active drug in metastatic breast cancer, but not a standard one in earlier stages may have found its place in the adjuvant setting. In the near future immunotherapy can play a role in early TNBC


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 293-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijayakrishna K. Gadi ◽  
Nancy E. Davidson

Triple negative is a term applied to breast cancers that do not meaningfully express the estrogen or progesterone hormone receptors or overexpress the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 tyrosine kinase. At present, the only proven method for systemic management of triple-negative breast cancer for both early-stage and metastatic settings is cytotoxic chemotherapy. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of management strategies that are best supported by available data. We also review recent advances most likely to affect treatment of triple-negative breast cancer in the coming years with particular emphasis on targeted agents, biologics, and immunotherapy.


2020 ◽  
pp. 113-124
Author(s):  
Jorge Henrique Santos Leal ◽  
Heather McArthur

Therapeutic strategies for the treatment of breast cancer have historically been determined by the presence or absence of hormone receptors and HER2 amplification and/or protein expression. For patients with breast cancer that lack these biomarkers, the so-called ‘triple-negative’ subtype, chemotherapy has been the cornerstone of cure and palliation. However, with the recent successful development of immune checkpoint molecules that target cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4, programmed cell death-1 (PD-1), and PD-ligand 1 (PD-L1), improved survival has been reported across a range of tumour types including melanoma, lung, and bladder cancer. In metastatic breast cancer, trials of single-agent immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have resulted in limited overall response rates; however, strategies that combine local or systemic therapies with ICI have improved response rates and, in some cases, improved survival. For example, the addition of an anti-PD-L1 inhibitor, atezolizumab, to nab-paclitaxel chemotherapy for newly diagnosed metastatic triple-negative breast cancer demonstrated an improvement in overall survival in an informal analysis of the PD-L1-positive subset in a recently reported Phase III clinical trial. These results ultimately led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for an ICI for the treatment of breast cancer, with numerous other health authorities following suit. Herein, the authors describe the biology behind ICI, the rationale for ICI administration in breast cancer, the related clinical trial data reported to date, and promising future strategies.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e11553-e11553
Author(s):  
F. N. Rana

e11553 Background: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a recently recognized subtype of breast cancer, notable to metastasize early. It accounts for 15–20% of all breast cancers, and is more prevalent in African-American and Hispanic women, and women younger than 40 years of age. Continual decline in breast cancer deaths since 1990 has been attributed to earlier detection, better treatment including hormonal blockade in estrogen- and progesterone-receptor positive cancers, as well as the addition of Trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against the Her2/neu receptors. These hormone receptors are not found in TNBC, and therefore the traditional targets for endocrine manipulation cannot be therapeutically exploited. While lower socioeconomic status and racial predisposition to this disease have been observed, there exists a paucity of research into other demographic risk factors. We reviewed data between January 2000 to December 2005 from our tumor registry with particular attention to age, race, family history, tobacco use, and stage of presentation, comparing this subset of patients (n=39) to other records (n=303). We included only those patients in whom the status of all three receptors were recorded. Results: Comparisons were made for TNBC vs non-TNBC patients respectively as follows: mean age (59.87± yrs vs 60.09±yrs). Analysis using χ2 test (χ2=0.855) and CMH test for Linear Trend analysis (p=0.47) showed no difference in percentages in association with the 5 stages or TNBC status and no linear trend respectively. Conclusions: This data suggests that at our institution, TNBC is less prevalent (12.87%) than estimates of 15- 20% published in other studies. There was no difference in age at diagnosis (p=0.92), with black patients more likely to have TNBC (p=0.004, OR=2.75). There was no significant association between smoking status and TNBC (p=0.43). There was no significant association between a family history of cancer and TNBC (p=0.8384). When accounting for samples size, TNBC was as prevalent as non TNBC at all stages of diagnosis. These results differ from other published data and may reflect differences in statistical analysis. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 117822342110024
Author(s):  
Élia Cipriano ◽  
Alexandra Mesquita

Metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous disease with a poor prognosis and currently with few treatment options. Treatment of these patients is highly based on systemic chemotherapy. Some targeted drugs were recently approved for these patients: two poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors in patients with germline BRCA1/2 mutations (olaparib and talazoparib), immune checkpoint inhibitors in association with chemotherapy if programmed death-ligand 1 positive (atezolizumab plus nabpaclitaxel and pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy [nabpaclitaxel, paclitaxel, and carboplatin plus gemcitabine]), and an antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab-govitecan in heavily pretreated patients (at least 2 previous lines for the metastatic setting). Combinations using these and other targeted treatment options are under investigation in early and late clinical trials, and we will probably have some practice-changing results in the new future. Other targeted drugs explored in phase II and phase III clinical trials are PI3K/AKT pathway inhibitors and androgen receptor antagonists in patients with alterations in these signaling pathways. The definition of molecular subtypes has been essential for the development of these treatment strategies. Soon, the treatment of metastatic TNBC could be based on personalized medicine using molecular testing for targeted drugs instead of only systemic chemotherapy. The authors present a review of emerging treatment options in metastatic TNBC, focusing on targeted drugs, including the recent data published in 2020.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 175883592098674
Author(s):  
Martín Núñez Abad ◽  
Silvia Calabuig-Fariñas ◽  
Miriam Lobo de Mena ◽  
María José Godes Sanz de Bremond ◽  
Clara García González ◽  
...  

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous disease representing about 15% of all breast cancers. TNBC are usually high-grade histological tumors, and are generally more aggressive and difficult to treat due to the lack of targeted therapies available, and chemotherapy remains the standard treatment. There is a close relationship between pathological complete response after chemotherapy treatment and higher rates of disease-free survival and overall survival. In this review of systemic treatment in early triple negative breast cancer, our purpose is to analyze and compare different therapies, as well as to highlight the novelties of treatment in this breast cancer subtype.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuanrong Chen ◽  
Ming Shen ◽  
Hongze Liao ◽  
Qianqian Guo ◽  
Hao Fu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most biologically aggressive breast cancers and lacks effective treatment options, resulting in a poor prognosis. Therefore, studies aiming to explore new therapeutic strategies for advanced TNBC are urgently needed. According to recent studies, microRNA-124 (miR124) not only inhibits tumour growth but also increases the sensitivity of TNBC to paclitaxel (PTX), suggesting that a platform combining PTX and miR124 may be an advanced solution for TNBC. Results Herein, we constructed a stepped cleavable calcium phosphate composite lipid nanosystem (CaP/LNS) to codeliver PTX and miR124 (PTX/miR124-NP). PTX/miR124-NP exhibited superior tumor microenvironment responsive ability, in which the surface PEG layer was shed in the mildly acidic environment of tumor tissues and exposed oligomeric hyaluronic acid (o-HA) facilitated the cellular uptake of CaP/LNS by targeting the CD44 receptor on the surface of tumor cells. Inside tumour cells, o-HA detached from CaP/LNS due to the reduction of disulfide bonds by glutathione (GSH) and inhibited tumour metastasis. Then, PTX and miR124 were sequentially released from CaP/LNS and exerted synergistic antitumour effects by reversing the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) process in MDA-MB-231 cells. Moreover, PTX/miR124-NP showed significant antitumour efficiency and excellent safety in mice bearing MDA-MB-231 tumours. Conclusion Based on these results, the codelivery of PTX and miR124 by the CaP/LNS nanosystem might be a promising therapeutic strategy for TNBC.


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