A 10-year follow-up of triple-negative breast cancer patients in Taiwan

• Published in: Japanese journal of clinical oncology 2012-03, Vol.42 (3), p.161-167
• Main Authors: Lin, Che, Chien, Su-Yu, Kuo, Shou-Jen, Chen, Li-Sheng, Chen, Shou-Tung, Lai, Hung-Wen, Chang, Tsai-Wang, Chen, Dar-Ren
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breast Neoplasms - genetics; Breast Neoplasms - metabolism; Breast Neoplasms - mortality; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Disease-Free Survival; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Staging; Prognosis; Proportional Hazards Models; Receptor, ErbB-2 - biosynthesis; Receptor, ErbB-2 - genetics; Receptor, ErbB-2 - metabolism; Receptors, Estrogen - biosynthesis; Receptors, Estrogen - genetics; Receptors, Progesterone - biosynthesis; Receptors, Progesterone - genetics; Receptors, Progesterone - metabolism; Taiwan
• ISSN: 0368-2811; 1465-3621
• DOI: 10.1093/jjco/hyr196

This study aimed to investigate whether triple-negative breast cancer has a worse prognosis; here, we present the 10-year follow-up results of triple-negative breast cancer patients in Taiwan. We identified 2858 breast cancer patients in Taiwan, of whom 416 (14.6%) had triple-negative breast cancer. Data used for analysis were derived from those breast cancer patients who were diagnosed between January 1996 and December 2006. In the Kaplan-Meier analysis, tumor subgroup (triple-negative breast cancer vs. non-triple-negative breast cancer) was a prognostic factor related to 10-year breast cancer death-specific survival and disease-free survival. The results of univariate analysis showed that tumor subgroup was a significant factor related to 10-year disease-free survival and breast cancer death-specific survival, as well as menopausal status, tumor size, lymph node, metastasis, grade, stage, estrogen receptor status, progesterone receptor status and her2/neu gene expression status. Similarly, the multivariate analysis also revealed that tumor subgroup was a significant factor related to 10-year breast cancer death-specific survival and disease-free survival, in addition to tumor size, lymph node, metastasis and grade. It was suggested that triple-negative breast cancer patients in Taiwan have worse 10-year survival. Notably, in node-positive patients, triple-negative breast cancer played a prognostic role in 10-year breast cancer death-specific survival.