Profile of Triple Negative Breast Cancer: A Retrospective Review

Main Article Content

Temitope Abiodun Olatunji
Omobolanle Taofikoh Akinbami
Anthonia Chima Sowunmi
Omolara Aminat Fatiregun
Bolaji Mautin Okedairo
Tolulope O. Idowu
Oluwaseyifunmi Opeyemi Ige-Olatunji
Basit Olatunji Balogun
Oluwatosin Titilope Ogunsanwo
Oyinkansola Adebiyi
Vincent Odogwu
Akinsegun Abduljaleel Akinbami

Keywords

Triple Negative Breast Cancers, Profile, Retrospective Study.

Abstract

Background: Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is a particularly aggressive tumor. Major responses to chemotherapy in TNBC do not necessarily correlate with better survival, indicating a need for further research into treatment strategies and underlying molecular mechanisms. This study is aimed at assessing the profile of Triple Negative Breast Cancer.


Methodology: This study retrospectively evaluated the profile of TNBC patients at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. Sociodemographic data, tumour grade, and type of chemotherapy administered were abstracted from the hospital’s cancer register. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 27.0, with associations between sociodemographic characteristics, tumour grade, and type of therapy established using chi-square tests. Key relationships were considered statistically significant at p-values ≤ 0.05.


Results: A total of three hundred and thirty (330) patients were recruited. The mean age of presentation was 49.96 ± 11.39 years, with the minimum and maximum ages of 22 and 80 years, respectively. The most represented age group was between 41-50 years, constituting about a third of all the patients. About three quarters of the tumours were moderately differentiated. Correlating tumour grade with the age of the patients was statistically significant, p value =0.05


Conclusions: Triple-negative breast Cancers remain a moderately differentiated tumour and are seen predominantly in the middle-aged group.

Abstract 36 | PDF Downloads 26 EPUB Downloads 30

References

1. Jedy-Agba E, Curado MP, Ogunbiyi O, Oga E, Fabowale T, Igbinoba F, et al. Cancer incidence in Nigeria: a report from population-based cancer registries. Cancer Epidemiol. 2012 Oct;36(5):e271-8. doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2012.04.007.

2. Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries.https://scispace.com/papers/global-cancer-statistics-2020-globocan-estimates-of-12h3bivv0a05,Accessed 3/7/2025

3. Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Laversanne M, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A, et al. Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians 2021 May 1;71(3):209–49. https://doi.org/10.3322/CAAC.21660

4. Nedeljković M, Damjanović A. Mechanisms of Chemotherapy Resistance in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer—How We Can Rise to the Challenge. Cells. 2019;8(9):957. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/cells8090957

5. Criscitiello C, Azim HA, Schouten PC, Linn SC, Sotiriou C. Understanding the biology of triple-negative breast cancer. Annals of Oncology: Official Journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology. 2012;23 Suppl 6:vi13-18. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mds188

6. Carey LA, Dees EC, Sawyer LR, Gatti L, Moore DT, Collichio FA, et al. The Triple Negative Paradox: Primary Tumor Chemosensitivity of Breast Cancer Subtypes. Clinical Cancer Research 2007 Apr 15;13(8):2329–34.

7. Akshata-Desai KA. Triple Negative Breast Cancer – An Overview. Hereditary Genetics. Published online 2012. doi:https://doi.org/10.4172/2161-1041.s2-001

8. Yin L, Duan JJ, Bian XW, Yu S. Triple-negative breast cancer molecular subtyping and treatment progress. Breast Cancer Research. 2020;22(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13058-020-01296-5

9. Valluri AR, Carter GJ, Robrahn I, Berg WA. Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation. J Breast Imaging. 2025;17;7(3):331-344. doi: 10.1093/jbi/wbae085

10. Foulkes WD, Smith IE, Reis-Filho JS. Triple-negative breast cancer. N Engl J Med. 2010; 363:1938–48. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1001389.

11. Metzger-Filho O, Tutt A, de Azambuja E, Saini KS, Viale G, Loi S, et al. Dissecting the heterogeneity of triple-negative breast cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2012; 30:1879–87. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2011.38.2010.

12. Liedtke C, Mazouni C, Hess KR, Andre´ F, Tordai A, Mejia JA, et al. Response to neoadjuvant therapy and long-term survival in patients with triple-negative breast cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2008; 26:1275–81. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2007.14.4147.

13. Cortazar P, Zhang LJ, Untch M, Mehta K, Costantino JP, Wolmark N, et al. Pathological complete response and long-term clinical benefit in breast cancer: the CTNeoBC pooled analysis. Lancet. 2014; 384:164–72. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62422-8

14. Hatzis C, Symmans WF, Zhang Y, Gould RE, Moulder SL, Hunt KK, et al. Relationship between complete pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and survival in triple-negativebreast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2016; 22:26–33. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-14-

15. Dent RTM, Pritchard KI, Hanna WM. Triple-negative breast cancer: Clinical features and patterns of recurrence. Clin Cancer Res. 2007;13:4429–4434. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-06-3045.

16. Lehmann, BD., Bauer, JA., Chen, X., Sanders, ME., Chakravarthy, A. B., Shyr, Y., et al. Identification of human triple-negative breast cancer subtypes and preclinical models for selection of targeted therapies. Journal of Clinical Investigation,;2011.121(7), 2750–2767. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci45014;

17. Masuda, H., Baggerly, KA., Wang, Y., Zhang, Y., Gonzalez-Angulo, AM., Meric-Bernstam, F., et al.. Differential response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy among 7 triple-negative breast cancer molecular subtypes. Clinical Cancer Research, ;2013;19(19), 5533–5540. https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-13-0799).

18. Lehmann, B. D., & Pietenpol, J. A. Identification and use of biomarkers in treatment strategies for triple-negative breast cancer subtypes. The Journal of Pathology, ;2013;232(2), 142–150. https://doi.org/10.1002/path.4280.

19. Denkert, C., Liedtke, C., Tutt, A., & von Minckwitz, G.. Molecular alterations in triple-negative breast cancer—the road to new treatment strategies. The Lancet, ;2017;389(10087), 2430–2442. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(16)32454-0;

20. McDonald, ES., Clark, AS., Tchou, J., Zhang, P., & Freedman, G. M. Clinical diagnosis and management of breast cancer. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, ;2016;57(Supplement 1), 9S–16S. https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.115.157834.

21. Prat A., Adamo B., Cheang MCU., Anders CK., Carey LA., Perou CM.. Molecular characterization of basal-like and non-basal-like triple-negative breast cancer. The Oncologist, ;2013;18(2), 123–133. https://doi.org/10.1634/theoncologist.2012-0397.

22. Turner NC., Kingston B., Kilburn LS., Kernaghan S, Hills M, Roche H,et al. Circulating tumour DNA analysis to direct therapy in advanced breast cancer (plasmaMATCH): a multicentre, multicohort, phase 2a, platform trial. The Lancet Oncology, 2020, 21(10), 1296–1308. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30444-7.