
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents approximately 10-20% of the invasive breast cancers. It tends to occur more often in women < 50 years.
In the US, the majority of women diagnosed with TNBC are African American.
Unlike hormone receptor positive breast cancers which can be treated via hormonal manipulation, triple negative breast cancers are more difficult to treat and usually portend a worse prognosis.
Dietze E et al.Triple-negative breast cancer in African-American women: disparities versus biology. Nature Reviews Cancer 15,248-254. doi:10.1038/nrc3896
Author
Sharan Abdul-Rahman, MD