Triple Negative Breast Cancer Not Responding To Chemo

Gene Apoptosis: Tumor Protein P53 And B

Many chemotherapy agents kill cancer cells by inducing apoptosis. Therefore, proteins related to apoptotic pathways have been studied to predict the response to chemotherapy . The p53 gene is the most frequently mutated in humans. This mutation occurs in approximately 50% of cancers in humans . The p53 protein is involved in the apoptotic pathway by inducing cell cycle termination and initiating apoptosis. However, the use of p53 as a predictor of chemotherapy response is still disappointing due to other factors, such as the type of tissue, use of chemotherapy drugs, and status of tumor mutation. The BCL-2 gene also plays a role in inhibiting apoptosis. BCL-2 is one of the proteins involved in apoptosis. However, in a clinical context, the relationship between BCL-2 and Bax protein as predictors of chemotherapy response is still unclear .

In clinical setting Favor Adjuvant Chemotherapy if ER Negative, Ductal Histology, Grade 3, High proliferation, High uPA and PA1, Basal and HER2 positive, High Mammaprint or OncotypeDx.

Chemotherapy For Early Tnbc

Early TNBC is treated with chemotherapy. People with TNBC tend to get more treatment benefit from chemotherapy than people with hormone receptor-positive breast cancers do .

Some people get chemotherapy before breast surgery. This is called neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

For people with TNBC who have cancer remaining in their breast after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, treatment with the chemotherapy drug capecitabine may lower the risk of recurrence and improve survival .

Learn more about chemotherapy.

Influencing Risk Factors Of Chemoresistance

Several risk factors affect the probability of chemoresistance. In studies, these factors potentially cause treatment bias. Age, subtype, and stage of cancer progression are important patient factors that can cause treatment bias.

Age-related changes can also affect pharmacodynamics, often resulting in increased resistance to the anti-tumor activity of chemotherapeutic drugs. Elderly people are more likely to express the multidrug resistance gene, which causes tumor cells to extrude natural drugs such as antibiotics and plant derivatives.

This mechanism may account for the drug resistance often seen in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia. In addition, chemotherapeutic drugs that depend on inducing apoptosis are less effective if a significant proportion of tumor cells have lost this capacity .

The tumoricidal effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy are greatest in well-oxygenated cells that are rapidly proliferating. Therefore, treatment in older patients may be less effective, because tumors in this age group are often relatively anoxic and indolent .

Recommended Reading: Where Does Breast Cancer Spread

Selection Of Appropriate Chemotherapy Regimens

Selection of chemotherapy regimens is essential in preventing resistance to a chemotherapy drug. Regimen selection has several parameters, including type, grade, subtype, ER, PR, Her2, Ki-67, and gene expression . Many types of software can help in the selection of chemotherapy regimens and predict responses, including MD Anderson chemotherapy calculators, the SVM Chemotherapy Response Support Calculator, and the Breast Cancer Treatment Outcome Calculator , , ].

Taking Care Of Yourself

After your treatment is over, your doctor will want to see you often to make sure the cancer doesn’t return. For the first 3 years, you’ll likely see them every 3 to 6 months. For 2 years after that, you’ll probably visit every 6 to 12 months. Once you’ve been cancer-free for 6 years, you’ll probably go back only once a year. Tell the doctor right away if you get any new symptoms or if you have pain or other problems that relate to your breasts.

Recommended Reading: What Are The Chances Of Stage 1 Breast Cancer Returning

Fda Approves New Therapy For Triple Negative Breast Cancer That Has Spread Not Responded To Other Treatments

For Immediate Release:

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to Trodelvy for the treatment of adult patients with triple-negative breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. Patients must have received at least two prior therapies before taking Trodelvy.

Metastatic triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive form of breast cancer with limited treatment options. Chemotherapy has been the mainstay of treatment for triple-negative breast cancer. The approval of Trodelvy today represents a new targeted therapy for patients living with this aggressive malignancy, said Richard Pazdur, M.D., director of the FDAs Oncology Center of Excellence and acting director of the Office of Oncologic Diseases in the FDAs Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. There is intense interest in finding new medications to help treat metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Todays approval provides patients whove already tried two prior therapies with a new option.

The most common side effects for patients taking Trodelvy were nausea, neutropenia, diarrhea, fatigue, anemia, vomiting, alopecia , constipation, decreased appetite, rash and abdominal pain.

The FDA granted approval of Trodelvy to Immunomedics, Inc.

What Happens If Chemo Doesnt Shrink Tumors

If the first set of chemo drugs doesnt shrink the tumor, your doctor will know that other drugs are needed. It should also kill any cancer cells that might have spread but cant be seen by the naked eye or on imaging tests. Just like adjuvant chemo, neoadjuvant chemo can lower the risk of breast cancer coming back.

Also Check: Back Pain And Breast Cancer

Immune Checkpoint Blockade With Monotherapy

As noted on clinicaltrials.gov , approximately half of the registered studies are focused on immune checkpoint blocking-related therapies. Of these, greater than 100 clinical studies have already entered phase II or phase III, implying that immunotherapy is an important trend in TNBC treatment. Previous trials have shown positive results with pembrolizumab or atezolizumab monotherapy in TNBC. In the KEYNOTE-012 trial , 27 PD-L1-positive TNBC patients exhibited an ORR of 18.5%, and the median time to response was 17.9 weeks . Another targeting PD-L1 mAb, atezolizumab, was also reported to be safe and clinically active in mTNBC. In this phase I study , the evaluation of PD-L1 expression levels demonstrated an improved ORR, a longer OS, and a higher disease control rate in patients with at least 1% TILs expressing PD-L1. Interestingly, patients receiving first-line atezolizumab therapy exhibited a better prognosis , suggesting the superiority of atezolizumab combined with first-line.

Risk Factors For Triple

Doctors arenât sure what makes you more likely to get triple-negative breast cancer. Not many women do â it only affects up to 20% of those who have breast cancer. Youâre most at risk for triple-negative breast cancer if you:

• Are African-American or Latina
• Have what your doctor will call a BRCA mutation , especially the gene BRCA1

Don’t Miss: Can You Get Breast Cancer In Both Breast

Why It Gets Accelerated Approval

The FDAs accelerated approval is granted for certain drugs that treat serious conditions and fill an unmet need. The manufacturer of the drug is still required to conduct additional trials and is expected to submit more findings by September next year. Upon those results, the drug could garner traditional approval.

When breast cancer cell growth isnt triggered by estrogen, progesterone, or human epidermal growth factor 2 , its known as triple-negative breast cancer. This type of breast cancer is considered aggressive with poor prognosis.

It doesnt respond to hormonal cancer treatments that have helped improve survival rates for people with other forms of the disease. However, it does respond to chemotherapy, but cancer cells can develop a resistance to chemotherapy agents. The treatment can also be very difficult on the patient as it kills off healthy cells along with cancer cells.

Triple-negative breast cancer is most likely to affect Hispanic and African-American women, along with people who have the BRCA1 gene mutation. It can develop in women in their 40s and 50s.

Approximately 15 percent of breast cancers are triple-negative, the National Breast Cancer Foundation reports.

About one-fifth of people with triple negative breast cancer have the PD-L1 protein, which is what atezolizumab targets.

Does Stress Cause Triple

Social stress connected to triple-negative breast cancer via fat cells. Local chemical signals released by fat cells in the mammary gland appear to provide a crucial link between exposure to unrelenting social stressors early in life and to the subsequent development of breast cancer, according to new research.

Don’t Miss: Where Does Metastatic Breast Cancer Spread

Novel Potential Therapies For Tnbc

TNBCs can arise in BRCA1 mutation carriers and have gene expression profiles similar to those of BRCA1-deficient tumours . Moreover, BRCA1-associated breast cancer appears to cluster in the basal-like subtype . BRCA1 mutation carriers often display basal like gene expression profiles, and there is increasing evidence that a TNBC basal like subtype develops mainly through a BRCA1-related pathway, resulting in increased genomic instability . For BRCA1 mutation carriers, the incidence of TNBC approximates to 70% , , although the incidence of BRCA mutations in TNBC can vary from 16% to 42% .

Even though a patient may lack the BRCA-1 somatic mutation, sporadically arising basal-like cancers often display a dysfunctional BRCA-1 pathway . TNBCs and BRCA1-deficient tumours share certain histological features including genomic instability, DNA repair defects and mutations in p53, which disrupt apoptosis and which are associated with a poor prognosis . Importantly, BRCA1 plays an important role in DNA double-strand break repair, contributing to the maintenance of DNA stability .

What Has Been The Standard Protocol For Treating Triple

The standard protocol to treat early-stage triple-negative breast cancer confined to the breast and the axillary lymph nodes is chemotherapy and surgery. Often chemotherapy is administered before the surgery. At present there are no further treatment options for early-stage triple-negative breast cancer beyond close follow-up care with regular physical exams and mammograms.

• Trodelvy FDA Approved

Several clinical trials are currently ongoing at various centers, using newer precision cancer medicines alone or in combination with chemotherapy in triple-negative and genetically inherited breast cancers. Women just discuss clinical trail options with their treating physician.

For more information about triple-negative breast cancer clinical trials at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer CenterJames Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, contact the Jamesline at 293-5066.

Read Also: Does Breast Cancer Have Symptoms

Target Therapy In Tnbc

Mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors

mTOR is one of the intracellular kinases. mTOR inhibitors have been shown to improve outcome in several cancer types including renal cancer. TNBC presents a high frequency of PTEN loss and mTOR activation. There is therefore a rationale to develop mTOR inhibition in patients with TNBC that show PTEN loss71. Interestingly, several reports say that mTOR activation could lead to cisplatin resistance, a phenomenon reversible by everolimus which is mTOR inhibitor72.

Beuvink et al.72 reported that adding everolimus to cisplatin could increase by 5-fold the loss of viability in vitro. These data suggest that there is a rationale to combine cisplatin and mTOR inhibitors in patients with TNBC.

FGFR inhibitors represent a new drug family. These drugs are either FGFR specific or target FGFR as part of their tyrosine kinase panel in addition to VEGFR inhibition. At least four compounds are currently under clinical trials on TNBC11.

EGFR signaling has been inhibited in other cancer types with clinical success either by using EGFR directed antibodies such as cetuximab or the inhibitors of receptor phosphorylation as gefitinib and erlotinib73. Cetuximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody targeting EGFR, elicits little response to single-agent therapy in the setting of advanced TNBC74.

Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2

HER-2 plays an important role in the growth of breast cancer. Overexpression of HER-2 is found in 25% of breast cancers. Tumors with HER-2 expression are more aggressive. Some studies suggest that overexpression of HER-2 in breast cancer is associated with responses to cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy and anthracycline-based regimens .

Read Also: What Happens If You Have Stage 4 Breast Cancer

What Is The Risk For Triple

The disease can affect anyone, but is more likely to show up in those who are:

• Younger than age 50 .
• Black or Latinx.
• Living with a genetic condition called BRCA mutation that increases the risk for breast cancer and other forms of cancer. Most cancers diagnosed in people with the BRCA1 mutation are triple negative.

Finding Hope After Triple

After finding lumps in my right breast and lymph node area in January 2014, I was diagnosed with stage three triple-negative breast cancer. This was a tremendous shock because I’d had a clear mammogram only six months earlier.To fight my very aggressive, very high-risk cancer, I immediately began five months of intense chemotherapy, followed by two surgeries and six weeks of radiation. Currently, there is no targeted therapy for triple-negative breast cancer, which made my diagnosis especially daunting.MD Anderson’s no-lose option for triple-negative breast cancer treatmentIt was supremely comforting to be at MD Anderson. Triple-negative breast cancer is rare and difficult to treat, but MD Anderson is focusing on improving treatment through their Moon Shots Program, an effort to reduce cancer deaths.

Now, I only can play a waiting game. It is difficult to hear some other cancer survivors complain about “having” to continue to take a daily pill to prevent recurrence. I — and I am sure most with triple-negative tumors — would be thrilled to have that option.Because I lacked that option, I approached the end of radiation — the end of my active treatment — with dread, not with elation. In fact, the day before my last radiation was one of my lowest points emotionally during my entire nine months of treatment. For those many months, my primary focus had been fighting my cancer aggressively.

I felt sad that I could not continue working to prevent recurrence.

Read Also: Metastatic Breast Cancer Symptoms And Signs

Prognosis And Survival Rates

Treatment may make triple-negative breast cancer go away. It depends on the size of your tumor, how quickly your cancer grows, and whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of your body. The treatments may cause side effects like nausea, vomiting, pain, fatigue, or mental fuzziness .

Itâs hard to say exactly what the odds are because cancer affects everyone differently. Plus, how well you do depends on how early you catch the cancer and how well you responded to treatment.

In general, about 91% of all women with triple-negative breast cancer are still alive 5 years after diagnosis. If the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes near the breast the 5 year relative survival rate is about 65%. If the cancer has spread to distant places, the 5 year relative survival rate is 12%.

What Are The Chances Of Survival Of Stage 4 Breast Cancer

Between 20 and 30 percent of women with early stage breast cancer go on to develop metastatic disease. While treatable, metastatic breast cancer cannot be cured. The five-year survival rate for stage 4 breast cancer is 22 percent median survival is three years. Annually, the disease takes 40,000 lives.

Recommended Reading: How Do You Know If You Have Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Where Do These Numbers Come From

The American Cancer Society relies on information from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program database, maintained by the National Cancer Institute , to provide survival statistics for different types of cancer.

The SEER database tracks 5-year relative survival rates for breast cancer in the United States, based on how far the cancer has spread. The SEER database, however, does not group cancers by AJCC TNM stages . Instead, it groups cancers into localized, regional, and distant stages:

• Localized: There is no sign that the cancer has spread outside of the breast.
• Regional: The cancer has spread outside the breast to nearby structures or lymph nodes.
• Distant: The cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the lungs, liver, or bones.

Treatment Modalities Of Tnbc

Patients with TNBC do not benefit from hormonal or trastuzumab-based therapy because of the loss of target receptors such as ER, PGR, and HER-2. Hence, surgery and chemotherapy, individually or in combination, appear to be the only available modalities. However, some studies have identified certain receptors as targets for new therapeutic drugs.

You May Like: Can You Survive Stage 3 Breast Cancer

How Metastatic Breast Cancer Is Treated

In cancer care, different types of doctors often work together to create a patients overall treatment plan that combines different types of treatments. This is called a multidisciplinary team. Breast cancer multidisciplinary care teams typically include medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists, and pathologists. In addition, cancer care teams include a variety of other health care professionals, such as physician assistants, nurse practitioners, oncology nurses, genetic counselors, social workers, pharmacists, counselors, dietitians, financial advisors, and other supportive care members. Ask the doctor in charge of your treatment which health care professionals will be part of your treatment team and what they do. This can change over time as your health care needs change.

A treatment plan is a summary of your cancer and the planned cancer treatment. It is meant to give basic information about your medical history to any doctors who will care for you during your lifetime. Before treatment begins, ask your doctor for a copy of your treatment plan. The treatment plan can be updated over time as your treatments change.

The main goals of metastatic breast cancer treatment are to make sure that you have the:

• Longest survival possible with the disease

• Fewest possible side effects from the cancer and its treatment

• Best and longest quality of life possible

Treatment options for metastatic breast cancer vary based on:

What Is The Prognosis For Triple

A good treatment result depends on several factors. Chemotherapy is what can really make a difference in the outcome. The size of the invasive part of the tumor, and the number of involved lymph nodes can also greatly influence your prognosis, Sun says, but adds that if the cancer has spread , the prognosis is less certain.

There is hope, even with this serious diagnosis, and staying optimistic is essential. It can be stressful and scary to go through chemo, but positive thinking can make a difference. You have to believe that its doing you good, and for most people, it does.

Don’t Miss: What To Say To Someone With Breast Cancer