Molecular subtypes and precision treatment of triple-negative breast cancer

Ann Transl Med. 2020 Apr;8(7):499. doi: 10.21037/atm.2020.03.194.

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive breast cancer subtype. Despite the progress made in precision treatment of cancer patients, targeted treatment is still at its early stage in TNBC, and chemotherapy remains the standard treatment. With the advances in next generation sequencing technology, genomic and transcriptomic analyses have provided deeper insight into the inter-tumoral heterogeneity of TNBC. Much effort has been made to classify TNBCs into different molecular subtypes according to genetic aberrations and expression signatures and to uncover novel treatment targets. In this review, we summarized the current knowledge regarding the molecular classification of TNBC and explore the future paradigm for using molecular classification to guide the development of precision treatment and clinical practice.

Keywords: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC); molecular subtypes; precision treatment.

Publication types

  • Review