Comparisons of Oncologic Outcomes between Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) and Non-TNBC among Patients Treated with Breast-Conserving Therapy

• Published in: Yonsei medical journal Vol. 57; no. 5; pp. 1192 - 1198
• Main Authors: Kim, Sanghwa, Park, Hyung Seok, Kim, Jee Ye, Ryu, Jegyu, Park, Seho, Kim, Seung Il
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Yonsei University College of Medicine 01.09.2016; 연세대학교의과대학
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Breast Neoplasms - mortality; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Breast Neoplasms - surgery; Disease-Free Survival; Female; Humans; Mastectomy, Segmental; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - mortality; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - pathology; Original; Proportional Hazards Models; Retrospective Studies; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms - mortality; Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms - surgery; 의학일반; triple negative breast neoplasms; mastectomy, segmental; Breast neoplasms
• ISSN: 0513-5796; 1976-2437
• DOI: 10.3349/ymj.2016.57.5.1192

The optimum local surgical strategy regarding breast-conserving therapy (BCT) for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is controversial. To investigate whether BCT is appropriate for patients with TNBC, we evaluated the clinical outcomes of BCT in women with TNBC compared to those of women without TNBC, using a large, single-center cohort. We performed a retrospective analysis of 1533 women (TNBC n=321; non-TNBC n=1212) who underwent BCT for primary breast cancer between 2000 and 2010. Clinicopathological characteristics, locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Tumors from the TNBC group had a higher T stage (T2 37.4% vs. 21.0%, p<0.001), a lower N stage (N0 86.9% vs. 75.5%, p<0.001), and a higher histologic grade (Grade III 66.8% vs. 15.4%, p<0.001) than the non-TNBC group. There were no differences in 5-year LRFS rates between the TNBC and non-TNBC groups (98.7% vs. 97.8%, p=0.63). The non-TNBC group showed a slightly better 5-year OS than the TNBC group; however, the difference was not significant (96.2% vs. 97.3%, p=0.72). In multivariate analyses, TNBC was not associated with poor clinical outcomes in terms of LRFS and OS [hazard ratio (HR) for LRFS=0.37, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.10-1.31; HR for OS=1.03, 95% CI: 0.31-3.39]. TNBC patients who underwent BCT showed non-inferior locoregional recurrence compared to non-TNBC patients with BCT. Thus, BCT is an acceptable surgical approach in patients with TNBC.