title: Patterns of recurrence in the basal and non-basal subtypes of triple-negative breast cancers.
abstract: Traditional prognostic markers for breast cancer include estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (ER) and HER2/neu. Negative staining for these three markers defines the 'triple-negative' phenotype. By adding markers for cytokeratin 5/6 and EGFR, triple-negative breast cancers can be divided into 'basal-like' and 'normal-like' subgroups. We conducted immuno-staining on a panel of 958 patients with breast cancer, using all five markers and we followed the patients for distal recurrence and death. We compared rates of distal recurrence in the basal-like and normal-like subgroups with that of women with ER-positive breast cancer. Only 16 of 958 women had normal-like breast cancers. These cancers resembled basal-like cancers in that they had a high proliferative index, but the women with normal-like breast cancers resembled ER-positive women in terms of distant recurrence. The addition of CK5/6 and EGFR to the standard panel (ER/PR/HER2/neu) defines a small subgroup of women with normal-like breast cancer. The prognosis of these women may be superior to that of basal-like breast cancers but firm conclusions cannot be made.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center and University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nofech-Mozes
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trudeau
authors.forename: Harriet K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kahn
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dent
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rawlinson
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Steven A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Narod
authors.forename: Wedad M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Hanna
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000737:chemistry / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D018275:Carcinoma, Lobular / Q000737:chemistry / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D002455:Cell Division; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D053555:Keratin-5 / Q000032:analysis; D053553:Keratin-6 / Q000032:analysis; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000032:analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D066246:ErbB Receptors; D053555:Keratin-5; D053553:Keratin-6; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; C512478:EGFR protein, human; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human