• Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of many forms of breast cancer.
• Forms of breast cancer are generally diagnosed based on the presence or absence
of three “receptors” known to fuel most breast cancer tumors: estrogen, progesterone and
HER2-neu.
• A diagnosis of TNBC means that the tumor in question is estrogen-receptor negative,
progesterone-receptor negative and Her2-negative. In other words, triple negative breast
cancer tumors do not exhibit any of the three known receptors.
• Receptor-targeting therapies have fueled tremendous recent advances in the fight against breast cancer. Unfortunately, there is no such targeted therapy for triple negative breast cancer.
• TNBC tends to be more aggressive, more likely to recur, and more difficult to treat because there is no targeted treatment.
• TNBC disproportionately strikes younger women, women of African, Latina or Caribbean
descent, and those with BRCA1 mutations.
• Approximately every half hour, another woman in the US is diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.
