Treatment outcomes and clinicopathologic characteristics of triple-negative breast cancer: A report from cancer institute of Iran

Background: triple-negative breast cancers (tnbc) have a more aggressive course and are associated with poorer prognosis in comparison with other subtypes of breast cancer. one of the most common subtypes of tnbc is basal-like. the aim of this study was to investigate clinicopathological characteristics and clinical course of tnbc in iranian women and compare them with other studies. subjects and methods: between march 2009 and february 2011,patients with breast cancer in cancer institute of iran were selected and then followed-up for 2 years. paraffin-embedded tumor block of all tnbc patients were evaluated for ck5/6 and egfr using ihc method. results: among 267 breast cancer patients,60 cases with tnbc were identified (22.5%),31 patients (51.7%) had basal-like and 29 patients (48.3%) had non-basal-like tumors. the median age of participants with tnbc was 49.6 years. among our patients,70% had positive lymph nodes.93.4% of all patients at the time of diagnosis were stage ii or iii and tumor size was at least 3 centimeters. no grade 1 tnbc was found in this study. during the follow-up period,there were 26 recurrences and 7 deaths. conclusion: the percentage of basal-like subtype among iranian women with tnbc was lower compared to other studies,while bone metastases,clinical stage,lymph node involvement and tumor size were higher. clinicopathological findings in basal and non-basal-like subgroups were not different,but the probability of lymph node involvement was more common in patients who were egfr positive. © 2017,tehran university of medical sciences (tums). all rights reserved.