Assessing Clinicopathological Features and Prognosis of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients: A Single-Center Study in Turkey

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is defined as tumors without estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor ۲ (HER۲) expression. This cancer is associated with higher rates of recurrence risk when compared to other subtypes of breast cancers. In this study, we aimed to explore the basic clinicopathological characteristics, prognosis, and recurrence patterns of TNBC patients.Methods: In the current study, forty-five TNBC female patients operated on for breast cancer in the General Surgery Clinic of Kayseri City Training and Research Hospital between ۲۰۱۶ and ۲۰۲۱ were included and retrospectively evaluated.Results: The percentage of TNBC was ۱۲% of the ۵۰۲ breast cancer patients who could access all three pieces of receptor information. The mean age of the patients was ۵۸.۹±۱۵.۲ years (۲۷-۹۰), and the mean BMI was ۳۰.۴±۵.۱۷ (۲۱.۵-۴۰.۶). It was observed that the most common histological subtype was invasive ductal carcinoma, and at the time of diagnosis, ۱۱ patients were stage ۱ (۲۴.۴%), ۳۱ patients were stage ۲ (۶۸.۸%), ۲ patients were stage ۳ (۴.۴%), and ۱ patient was stage ۴ (۲.۲%). During the follow-up period, ۱۱ patients (۲۴,۴%) developed metastasis and the most common sites were the brain and bones. The mean time from diagnosis to metastasis was ۲۰.۷±۵.۷۵ (۱۲-۲۹) months. The ۳-year disease-free survival was ۶۲%, and the ۳-year overall survival (OS) was ۷۰%.Conclusion: TNBCs are cancers with varying prevalence, poor prognosis, and limited treatment alternatives. The prevalence of TNBC in our center was found to be lower than the literature rates and consistent with the literature, the lymph node stage was related to poor OS and disease free survival (DFS).

Keywords:

Triple negative breast cancer , neoadjuvant therapy , survival rate