Disease-free Probability and Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Objective: To compare the probabilities of local recurrence and distant metastasis between women with triple-negative and non- triple negative breast cancers. Methods: Medical and pathological records of breast cancer patients treated between the years 2002 and 2006 were reviewed. Results: There were 256 patients with complete data on estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) expression determinations. There were 54 patients (21%) with triple-negative (ER-, PR-, HER2 -) cancers. Triple-negative patients were more likely to have larger tumors with higher histologic grade. The median fallow-up time was 4 years. The probabilities of local and distant recurrence were similar between the two groups of patients. Only two factors were independently and significantly associated with overall recurrence: tumor stage and tumor size. Conclusion: Triple-negative breast cancer did not have a higher risk for both local recurrence and distant metastasis when compared with non-triple negative cancer.