Open Access

REVIEW

Targeting triple-negative breast cancer: A clinical perspective

by LAZAR S. POPOVIC^1,2,*, GORANA MATOVINA-BRKO¹, MAJA POPOVIC^1,2, KEVIN PUNIE³, ANA CVETANOVIC^4,5, MATTEO LAMBERTINI^6,7

1 Department of Medical Oncology, Oncology Institute of Vojvodina, Sremska Kamenica, Serbia
2 Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
3 Department of General Medical Oncology and Multidisciplinary Breast Centre, Leuven Cancer Institute, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
4 Department for Oncology, Medical Faculty Nis, University of Nis, Nis, Serbia
5 Clinic of Oncology, Clinical Centre Nis, Nis, Serbia
6 Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Sciences (DiMI), School of Medicine, University of Genova, Genova, Italy
7 Department of Medical Oncology, U.O.C Clinica di Oncologia Medica, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy

* Corresponding Author: LAZAR S. POPOVIC. Email:

Oncology Research 2023, 31(3), 221-238. https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2023.028525

Received 22 December 2022; Accepted 10 March 2023; Issue published 22 May 2023

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a disease with often an aggressive course and a poor prognosis compared to other subtypes of breast cancer. TNBC accounts for approximately 10%–15% of all diagnosed breast cancer cases and represents a high unmet need in the field. Up to just a few years ago, chemotherapy was the only systemic treatment option for this subtype (1). To date, TNBC is considered a heterogeneous disease. One of the existing classifications is based on the analysis of mRNA expression in 587 TNBC cases, in which Lehman et al. proposed six subtypes of TNBC as follows: two basal-like (BL1 and BL2) subtypes, a mesenchymal (M) subtype, a mesenchymal stem-like (MSL) subtype, an immunomodulatory (IM) subtype, and a luminal androgen receptor (LAR) subtype (2). Later studies have demonstrated that the IM and MSL subtypes do not correlate with independent subtypes but reflect background expression by dense infiltration of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) or stromal cells. According to this finding, the classification of TNBC has been revised into the following four subtypes: basal 1, basal 2, LAR, and mesenchymal subtypes (3). Over the last years, several new strategies have been investigated for the treatment of patients with TNBC. Among them, immunotherapy, antibody drug conjugates, new chemotherapy agents, and targeted therapy have been and are currently being developed. The present article aims to provide an updated overview on the different treatment options that are now available or are still under investigation for patients with TNBC.

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