Abstract:

Objective To investigate the clinicopathological features and prognostic factors of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Methods A total of 547 females with breast cancer were selected, and were divided into TNBC group and non-TNBC group. The clinicopathological features and prognostic factors of TNBC were analysed. Results The numbers of patients in TNBC group and non-TNBC group were 71 (13.0%) and 476 (87.0%), respectively. There were significant differences in the parameters of age low than 35 years （14.1% vs 1.1%）, family history of breast cancer (29.6% vs 9.2%), diameter of tumor longer than 50 mm （22.5% vs 8.0%）, tumor stage Ⅲ (23.9% vs 16.4%), tumor grade Ⅲ (40.8% vs 28.8%）and recurrence or metastasis (28.2% vs 10.9%) between TNBC group and non-TNBC group (P<0.01 or P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in the parameters of menopausal status, number of lymph node metastasis, pathological types and surgical approach between these two groups (P>0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that both 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and 5-year overall survival (OS) in TNBC group were significantly lower than those in non-TNBC group (65.8% vs 85.3%，P<0.01；77.7% vs 88.7%，P<0.05). Cox proportional hazard regression model analysis revealed that family history of breast cancer, tumor stage and number of lymph node metastasis were independent prognostic risk factors for DFS of TNBC. Conclusion Compared with patients with non-TNBC, patients with TNBC are younger, more often have family history of breast cancer, have larger tumor size, more advanced tumor stage and higher tumor grade, are more prone to recurrence and metastasis, and have lower DFS, lower OS and poorer prognosis.

Key words: breast neoplasm, triple-negative, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, clinical characteristics, prognosis