My Breakthrough
Triple Negative Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is not a single disease – there are many different types. ‘Triple negative’ breast cancer is so called because it does not have HER2 receptors or receptors for the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone. This means that women with triple negative breast cancer will not benefit from Herceptin or hormone treatments like tamoxifen.
Triple negative breast cancers account for 15-20% of all breast cancers diagnosed in the UK. The current standard treatment for triple negative breast cancer is chemotherapy.
Some studies have shown that triple negative breast cancers respond better to chemotherapy treatment than hormone sensitive cancers.
Triple negative breast cancer can be more aggressive and the chance of the cancer recurring within five years of diagnosis and treatment is typically greater than with other types of breast cancer. However, if a triple negative breast cancer has not recurred within five years after diagnosis there is evidence to suggest that there is actually a lower chance of it recurring compared to other types of breast cancer.
You may hear triple negative breast cancers referred to as basal breast cancer. Many basal breast cancers are triple negative so the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably although they do have slightly different meanings.
