What Is Triple-Negative Breast Cancer?

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer which lacks all three receptors commonly found on tumor cells.

Imagine cancer cells as houses; their front door may contain three different locks called receptors. If your cancer features any of these three locks, doctors have several tools such as hormone therapy or other drugs available that may help them attack and eliminate cancerous cells more effectively.

But for those diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, that means there aren't three locks, leaving doctors fewer tools for treating your disease - including chemotherapy as one effective option.

How Is Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Treated? 

In general, patients first require having either the lump removed (through lumpectomy or mastectomy) or all breast removed. After that, chemotherapy treatments may be recommended in order to target any remaining cancer cells - either those within their breast or those that may have spread outward from it - that cannot be seen visually. Sometimes doctors will even suggest chemotherapy in advance in order to shrink cancer tumors further.

Lumpectomy

In lumpectomy surgery, a surgeon will surgically extract any lump from your breast as well as its surrounding lymph nodes to detect possible cancer cells that have spread beyond their original location. This process usually takes an hour or two and most women stay at the hospital only temporarily before heading home afterwards.

Mastectomy

With a mastectomy, your surgeon will perform surgery on both breasts and nearby lymph nodes in order to assess whether cancer has spread. Some women elect breast reconstruction during this procedure as well.

Radiation therapy 

typically follows lumpectomies to destroy any remaining cancerous cells in your breasts. Treatment takes 20 minutes per day and most women come four or five times weekly for six weeks at least to see their radiation doctor for this procedure.

Chemotherapy

Cancerous cells from your lump may have spread, so chemotherapy's goal is to destroy them wherever they exist in order to decrease the chances that it will spread or come back. Chemotherapy reduces this risk.

What Are Some Common Side Effects of Treatment?

Hair Loss

Cancer chemotherapy treatments may cause your hair to thin out quickly and potentially thinning completely within two to four weeks, as your scalp becomes susceptible to immune cells that eat away at its cells and make up their own defense mechanisms against disease and illness. New treatments may be available to address hair loss so speak to your physician if this is an area of great concern to you. Your hair will begin growing back approximately four to six weeks post chemotherapy treatment has finished.

Nausea

Many women experience sickness and fatigue after each chemotherapy treatment. If this occurs for you, contact your physician and he or she can prescribe medicine to alleviate it.

Tiredness

After chemotherapy or radiation therapy, patients may feel exhausted or have trouble thinking and remembering certain details. Most often these side effects resolve within two weeks after therapy ends.

Lymphedema After surgery or radiation treatments to your lymph nodes, lymph fluid may not drain properly and begin accumulating under your skin, leading to swelling in certain parts of your body and potentially lymphedema.

Your Doctor Will Address Skin Changes

After receiving radiation therapy, some areas of skin may experience reddening or peeling similar to what would occur after sunburning. Your physician can advise the best course of treatment.

Do I Need Genetic Counseling and Testing? 

Your doctor may suggest visiting a genetic counselor. A genetic counselor gathers information on any history of cancer in your family to assess your risk for breast cancer; for example, people of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage tend to be at increased risk due to certain inherited changes (mutations) that increase this risk, including triple-negative breast cancers. Once evaluated by this individual, they may suggest getting genetic tested as part of this process.

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