The advance of adjuvant treatment for triple-negative breast cancer

• Published in: Cancer biology & medicine Vol. 19; no. 2; pp. 187 - 201
• Main Authors: Ge, Jingyu, Zuo, Wenjia, Chen, Yiyu, Shao, Zhiming, Yu, Keda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China Chinese Anti-Cancer Association (CACA), Cancer Biology & Medicine 01.02.2022; Department of Breast Surgery,Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center,Shanghai 200032,China; Shanghai Medical College,Fudan University,Shanghai 200032,China; Compuscript; China Anti-Cancer Association
• Subjects: adjuvant chemotherapy; Adjuvant therapy; Anthracycline; Biomarkers; Breast cancer; Cancer therapies; Chemotherapy; Clinical trials; Endocrine therapy; Epidermal growth factor; Estrogen receptors; Metastasis; Mortality; Mutation; Patients; Progesterone; prognostic factors; Review; Risk groups; targeted therapy; Toxicity; Transcription; triple-negative breast cancer; Womens health; adjuvant chemotherapy; targeted therapy; prognostic factors; Triple-negative breast cancer
• ISSN: 2095-3941
• DOI: 10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2020.0752

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer characterized by its highly aggressive behavior, early recurrence, and poor outcomes, when compared with other subtypes. Due to the absence of the estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 expression, TNBC lacks meaningful biomarkers and an effective therapeutic strategy. Chemotherapy remains the main adjuvant treatment for patients with TNBC. Anthracycline/taxane-based regimens are the standard of care in adjuvant settings. The addition of capecitabine or platinum may offer extra benefits to patients with TNBC, but at the cost of increased toxicity or adverse events. Dose-dense chemotherapy may enhance treatment efficacy in patients who are able to tolerate the treatment regimen, especially in high-risk patients. As a heterogenous disease, TNBC can be classified into several molecular subtypes according to genomic or transcriptional features, which may indicate potential targets for more precise and individualized treatment strategies. With our increased understanding of signal pathways associated with TNBC, as well as the discovery of novel biomarkers indicative of TNBC prognosis, several new therapeutic options are under investigation, and some have already reported good results. In this review, we summarized the current conventional therapeutic strategies and emerging clinical trials regarding adjuvant treatment for TNBC. Furthermore, we evaluated the prognostic value of several potential targets and the progress of targeted therapy in TNBC, both in neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings.