Triple Negative Breast Cancer
by LATOIA
Filed under Family, Motherhood
Whether it was your mother, grandmother, auntie, best friend, or maybe it was you, we have all been somehow touched by breast cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women, after non-melanoma skin cancer. Women living in North America are subject to the highest rate of breast cancer in the world, and nearly 180,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year alone.
It is now commonly understood that breast cancer is not one form of cancer, but many different subtypes” of cancer. These subtypes of breast cancer are generally diagnosed based upon the presence, or lack of, three “receptors” known to fuel most breast cancers: estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). The most successful treatments for breast cancer target these receptors. Unfortunately, none of these receptors are found in women diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.
Although breast cancer incidence rates are slightly lower overall among African-American women than white women, 50% of black women diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 55 are diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer. Triple negative breast cancers tends to be more aggressive in their behavior, so they have a very high rate of recurrence. They also tend to spread to the liver, lungs and chest wall. It’s suspected that some combination of genetics and environmental factors are at play in triple-negative disease.
Nigerian born, Dr. Funmi Olopade, a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, is at the forefront of
identifying triple negative breast cancer(s) and the trend among African-American women. She says, “When you have triple negative, it means that we cannot use hormone therapy. … The only way we can treat that type of breast cancer is to use chemotherapy.” Tamoxifen and Herceptin, two of the most effective medications for treating breast cancer, are not effective in treating triple negative breast cancer patients.
However, if a patient responds well to chemotherapy, Olopade said, there’s a very good chance of curing the disease. “The challenge we have is when the cancer comes back,” she added. “Right now, we don’t have any effective way to treat it, and that’s why when it comes back, it tends to be deadly.” Dr. Olopade is hoping better drugs will be available in the next two to five years that will help eradicate triple negative cancer cells.
“In this country, what we have found was young African-American women have a rate that is higher than young white women, and we don’t know if that is because of a gene or other risk factors,” Dr. Olopade said.
BRCA1 is a major breast cancer-causing gene that was identified 14 years ago. Dr. Olopade said women born with the defective gene have a higher chance of getting breast cancer and at a younger age.
“We know that women with a family history of breast cancer who have a BRCA1 mutation are most at risk,” she said.
Dr. Olopade also wants to delve deeper into whether triple negative rates are higher among women who do not breastfeed their children. “It’s that first pregnancy and first breastfeeding that really allows the breast to become fully mature,” she said.
Dr. Olopade stressed that on average, “African-Americans are not likely to breastfeed, as they are getting in the work force and returning to work soon after childbirth.”
Although there are several advances, Dr. Olopade acknowledged that researchers still much to learn about triple negative breast cancer and more study is needed.
In the past physicians have told women to wait until 40 to get their first mammogram. Dr. Olopade encourages women to begin getting screened as early as 25. “Many of the women are surviving. They are beating the odds of dying because they know they can do preventive approaches to reduce their risk of dying.”
In addition, begin monthly breast self exams and report any changes to your doctor.
On July 16, 2008, from 7:00 – 8:00 PM EDT, Breast Cancer.Org will host an Ask-the-Expert Online Conference on Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Just click the following link or go to the BreastCancer.Org homepage and click the “Join Conference” button.
Share your comments or questions with us in addition to sharing this critical information with all women.
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