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What Is Stage 3 Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Treatment Options For Triple

How a triple-negative breast cancer survivor became cancer-free

Typically, triple-negative breast cancer patients will receive a combination of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.

Research shows that survival rates are higher when chemotherapy is used to shrink the tumor before surgery. Doing chemotherapy before surgery usually means fewer cancer cells in the body at the time time of surgery. This makes it less likely for cancer cells to spread to other areas of the body during the surgery.

Another option to treat triple-negative breast cancer is using drugs that inhibit the poly ADP-ribose polymerase enzyme. Particularly in patients that also test positive for BRCA mutation, PARP inhibitors make it harder for the cancer cells to survive.

Finally, a combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy may treat advanced triple-negative breast cancer that tested positive for the PD-L1 protein. Immunotherapy helps the patients immune system work harder to fight the cancer cells, in this case also fighting the PD-L1 protein.

If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, request an appointment to meet with one of our breast cancer specialists located in the Denver area, Colorado Springs, Boulder, and other areas throughout the Colorado Front Range. We are also happy to quickly schedule a second opinion to help you with making the cancer treatment decision youre confident in.

Statistics Don’t Account For Late Recurrences

When comparing triple-negative breast cancer to positive tumors, it’s important to keep in mind late recurrences. Most statistics are presented as five-year survival rate, and in this setting, triple-negative breast cancer can look more ominous. But looking at longer periods of time, say 20 years following diagnosis, this may be different.

Stage 3b Breast Cancer

Stage 3B breast cancer means a tumour of any size that has spread to other tissues near the breast such as skin, muscles, or ribs. At this stage, the tumour may or may not have spread to the lymph nodes. However, the cancer has not spread to other distant parts of the body.

Cancer that has spread to the skin of the breast might be inflammatory breast cancer, a rare form of cancer which can be aggressive and challenging to treat.

Also Check: Is Stage 3 Breast Cancer Curable

What Hormones Does Suzanne Somers Use

I use an estrogen cream every day and progesterone cream two weeks a month. Thats why, at 62, I dont require any pharmaceutical drugs. Fugh-Berman: Menopausal hormone therapy DOUBLES the risk of dementia, according to data from the Womens Health Initiative, and increases age-related memory problems, too.

Brcaness A Unique Molecular Trait Of Tnbc

WOMEN

BRCA1/2Annals of Oncology.

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BRCA12Journal of Clinical Oncology.Annals of Oncology.Nature.Nat Genet.Genes Dev.Blood.Cell.Cell.Nat Rev Cancer.Biochem Soc Trans.

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BRCA1/2CancerSpectrum Knowledge Environment.Oncogene.Annals of Oncology.Nat Rev Cancer.Cancer Cell.

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Is Triple Negative Breast Cancer An Aggressive Form Of Cancer

Its true that triple negative breast cancers can grow quickly. But your prognosis or expected outcome depends on more factors than your cancer subtype. Healthcare providers will also consider your tumors size and whether it has spread to your lymph nodes and other parts of your breast. Its also helpful to know researchers are focusing on ways to slow the spread of TNBC.

How Is Triple Negative Breast Cancer Diagnosed

The first step might be a mammogram to evaluate a suspicious mass or lump in your breast. Based on what they learn, healthcare providers might perform a biopsy to remove breast tissue. Then they examine the tissues cells to determine the cancer subtype. Identifying the cancer subtype is part of the staging process, which is when providers decide how to treat your cancer.

Sometimes providers use the following tests before treatment to check on your tumors size and whether it has spread, or after treatment to monitor response to treatment:

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What Does It Mean To Have Stage 3 Breast Cancer

Stage 3 cancer means the breast cancer has extended to beyond the immediate region of the tumor and may have invaded nearby lymph nodes and muscles, but has not spread to distant organs. Although this stage is considered to be advanced, there are a growing number of effective treatment options.

This stage is divided into three groups: Stage 3A, Stage 3B, and Stage 3C. The difference is determined by the size of the tumor and whether cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and surrounding tissue.

Breast Cancers Survival Is Influenced By Tumor Grade

The Diagnosis:Triple Negative Breast Cancer #3

Grade identifies the size and shape of the malignant breast cancer cells. At the event the breast cancer cells look very different than normal breast tissue cells, and random in appearance, they can be called, that was badly differentiated and described as âhigh gradeâ. Higher level breast cancer cells tend to really have a poorer prognosis.

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Early Stage Clinical Trials

In a proof of concept study published in the Lancet, authors investigated olaparib in patients with advanced metastatic breast cancer with germline BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations. They investigated two doses of olaparib at 400 mg BD and 100 mg BD. Approximately half of patients in this study had TNBC with the remainder having other histological subtypes. Patients were heavily pretreated with a median of 3 prior chemotherapy regimens and platinum sensitivity was not needed for trial enrolment. Overall response rates were impressive in this heavily pre-treated population at 41% in the group receiving the higher dose and 22% in the group receiving the lower dose.

Kaufman et al investigated olaparib further in a large phase 2 basket trial with 298 patients in a single-arm study. Patients with any advanced solid-organ malignancy were included if they harboured a gBRCA mutation. In the breast cohort, patients may have received multiple lines of treatment and there was no requirement for platinum sensitivity. Response rates were modest with only 8 of 62 patients responding in this unselected population.

Inoperable Breast Cancer Is Often Still Treatable

Stage 3C breast cancer is divided into operable and inoperable stage 3C breast cancer. However, the term inoperable is not the same as untreatable.

If your physician uses the word inoperable, it may simply mean that a simple surgery at this time would not be enough to get rid of all the breast cancer that is within the breast and the tissue around the breast. There must be healthy tissue at all of the margins of the breast when it is removed. Keep in mind that the breast tissue goes beyond the breast mound it goes up to the clavicle and down to a few inches below the breast mound. There must also be tissue to close the chest wound after the surgery is performed.

Another treatment method may be used first to shrink the breast cancer as much as possible before surgery is considered.

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Sociodemographic And Clinical Characteristics Of Tnbc Patients

We enrolled 152 patients aged 26-85, median age 58 years , just over two-thirds of them menopausal. In routine medical records, family history data were lacking in a high percentage of cases, i.e. 42 for any cancer and 43 for BC. We kept these data in descriptive , but did not interpret them. In patients for whom we had properly collected data, 18/109 had a positive family history of BC. Patients with a positive family history of BC were younger, median age 43 years compared to patients without family BC, median age 57 years. The vast majority of patients had ductal invasive carcinoma with a median tumor size of 2.2 cm, 62 with positive lymph nodes, 124 with grade III tumor, and median Ki67 proliferation index 57 . Just over one-third of patients underwent radical surgery , and almost all of them underwent axillary dissection. Adjuvant chemotherapy was used in 130/148 patients, in 114/128 cases with anthracyclines or a combination of anthracyclines and taxanes. A total of 103/140 patients were treated with adjuvant radiotherapy. None of the patients was treated with the neoadjuvant approach.

What Is The Staging Of Triple

Can stage 3rd breast cancer be cured?

Staging is the process of determining the extent of the cancer and its spread in the body. Together with the type of cancer, staging helps determine the appropriate therapy and predict the chances for survival.

To determine if the cancer has spread, medical professionals may use several different imaging techniques, including X-ray, CT scans, bone scans, and PET scans. Staging depends upon the size of a tumor and the extent to which it spread to lymph nodes or distant sites and organs in the body. Examination of lymph nodes removed at surgery and the results of ER, PR, and HER2 tests performed on the tumor tissue also help determine the stage of a tumor. Stage I is the lowest stage, while stage IV is the highest stage and refers to tumors that have metastasized, or spread to areas distant from the breast.

Most doctors specifically adjust breast cancer treatments to the type of cancer and the staging group.

Surgery

Many women with breast cancer will require surgery. Broadly, the surgical therapies for breast cancer consist of breast-conserving surgery and mastectomy .

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy destroys cancer cells with high-energy rays. Doctors commonly administer radiation therapy to patients after breast cancer surgery, most commonly after lumpectomy.

Chemotherapy

Types of chemotherapy include the following:

Other therapies for triple-negative breast cancer

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Triple Negative Breast Cancer Clinical Trial

Ongoing clinical trial tried to investigate effectiveness and safety of different possible treatment for future use and also has several clinical trials in the pipeline. The patient can also enroll their name in these trials to get novel therapies and also assist in research by providing the data to the research team. The different research aim is different, some are investigating new therapies to treat the patient, whereas some drugs may use in preventive therapy. Name registration for a clinical trial is the first step to enrolling name to the research3,4.

References

  • Triple Negative Breast Cancer Johns Hopkins Medicine National Breast Cancer Foundation Online available at http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/triple-negative-breast-cancer
  • Heidi Godman Triple Negative Breast Cancer Outlook: Survival Rates Online available at http://www.healthline.com/health/triple-negative-breast-cancer-outlook-survival-rates-stage#Overview1
  • Triple negative breast cancer Breast Cancer Care Online available at https://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/information-support/facing-breast-cancer/diagnosed-breast-cancer/primary-breast-cancer/triple-negative-breast-cancer
  • Triple Negative Breast Cancer Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc Online available at https://ww5.komen.org/uploadedFiles/_Komen/
  • Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Breast Cancer Org Online available at http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/trip_neg
  • Triple Negative Breast Cancer Stages

    Triple negative breast cancer stages are assigned based on the extent of the cancer at the time of diagnosis, including the size of the tumor and whether it has spread to other areas of the body. Approximately 15 percent of all breast cancer cases are classified as triple negative, or hormone receptor negative, which means that the cancer cells lack receptors for estrogen, progesterone and HER-2/neu hormones. While triple negative breast cancers are sometimes treated differently than hormone-receptor-positive cancers, the staging process is the same for all types of cancer.

    Breast cancers are typically staged using a numerical scale that ranges from zero to four, with higher numbers indicating progressively larger and more invasive cancers. Triple negative and other types of breast cancer stages include:

    • Stage 0 Abnormal cells are confined to the milk ducts or lobes
    • Stage 1 Small, localized cancers that have not spread beyond a single, nearby lymph node
    • Stage 2 Moderate, regional cancers that have not spread beyond the lymph nodes in the underarm area
    • Stage 3 Regionally advanced cancers that have spread beyond the breast but have not metastasized to distant organs
    • Stage 4 Metastatic malignancies that have spread to distant organs

    For more information about triple negative breast cancer stages, call or request to schedule an appointment online. No referrals are necessary to meet with Moffitts oncologists who specialize in breast cancer.

    • BROWSE

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    Stage 3a Breast Cancer

    If you are diagnosed with Stage 3A breast cancer, it means that one of the following applies to you:

    Either:

    The tumour is less than 5 cm and breast cancer cells have been found in:

    • 4-9 lymph nodes in the armpit. or
    • 1 or more lymph nodes under the breastbone

    The tumour is larger than 5 cm and breast cancer cells have spread to 1-9 lymph nodes.

    What Do You Attribute To The Hesitancy Black Women Have To Partake In Clinical Trials

    Case 3: Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

    RF: The traumatic history of exploitation and racism in the scientific and medical industries has understandably posed huge barriers of trust for women of color. Nearly a third of Black women believe scientists cannot be trusted, compared to only 4% of white women. As a result, the average participation by Black women in breast cancer clinical trials overall is less than 3%. This is where a platform like Ciitizen dedicated to democratizing health data and empowering patients to take charge of their treatment journey is critical. By giving Black patients tools to safely store and access their medical data, Ciitizen fosters trust between Black patients and researchers.

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    Where Do These Numbers Come From

    The American Cancer Society relies on information from the SEER* 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.

    Stage 3 Breast Cancer Treatment Options

    Treatment for stage 3 breast cancers typically involves a combination of surgery along with chemotherapy to shrink the tumor before surgery and radiation after surgery to treat the chest wall and/or lymph nodes. Lymph nodes will also likely be removed during surgery.

    Targeted therapies, including hormone therapy, can also be used depending on your cancers specific characteristics.

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    What Is The Prognosis For Triple Negative Breast Cancer

    Triple negative breast cancer can be more aggressive and difficult to treat. Also, the cancer is more likely to spread and recur. The stage of breast cancer and the grade of the tumor will influence your prognosis. Research is being done currently to create drug therapies that are specific for triple negative breast cancer.

    Interested in learning more? i3Health is hosting an upcoming webinar Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Applying Treatment Advances to Personalized Care. Learn more here.

    Material on this page courtesy of Johns Hopkins Medicine

    Risk Factors For Triple

    triple negative breast cancer

    Doctors aren’t sure what makes you more likely to get triple-negative breast cancer. Not many women do — it only affects up to 20% of those who have breast cancer. You’re most at risk for triple-negative breast cancer if you:

    • Are African-American or Latina
    • Are under 40
    • Have what your doctor will call a BRCA mutation , especially the gene BRCA1

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    Triple Negative Breast Cancer Day By Deborah After Breast Cancer Ambassador

    Being diagnosed with breast cancer has been one of the most challenging things to live with to date but knowing that Breast cancer isnt just one type of cancer is something everyone should know. There are four main subtypes of breast cancer, with different characteristics, and therefore which require different treatments.

    Each year 15 to 20 per cent of patients get diagnosed with Triple-negative breast cancer it is named this because it lacks estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors it accounts for only 10 to 20 per cent of all invasive breast cancers, yet is responsible for a large proportion of breast cancer deaths because it is so aggressive, and is more likely to have already spread to other parts of the body at diagnosis.

    Fortunately, Triple-negative breast cancer can be treated with other drugs, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy and non-HER2 targeted therapy.

    Most of us go through chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy. Ive had all 3 with 8 rounds of chemo, 2 major surgeries including Lumpectomy and Lymph Node Dissection and Breast Reconstruction.

    Palliative And Supportive Care

    Living with advanced TNBC is often difficult, emotionally and physically. Its important to identify and make use of the support that is available, whether it be family, friends, therapists, support groups, financial counselors, social workers or members of the community. Let people know your concerns and what you need from someone, whether it is to watch the kids, provide a ride to your appointment, be another set of ears or a friend who can listen.Its also important to know what services are available to help deal with any physical symptoms that you have. Request a referral to Palliative Care as soon as you get your diagnosis. Palliative Care is there to help with the full range of emotional and physical issues you may encounter throughout the course of your illness.If you are experiencing financial problems, either related to your treatment or to your life, let your health care team know. There are resources that can help with those issues as well.

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    Who Is Most Likely To Have Tnbc

    Triple negative breast cancer appears more frequently in women age 40 and younger than in older women. Black and Latina women are more likely to develop TNBC than white women. Women who have the gene change BRCA1 are more likely to develop TNBC than other women. When the BRCA1 gene mutates, it stops preventing cancer and appears to make your bodys cells more vulnerable to cancer.

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