Precision Medicine and Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Current Landscape and Future Directions

• Main Authors: Fokhrul Hossain, Samarpan Majumder, Justin David, Lucio Miele
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Cancers
• Subjects: triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC); precision medicine; breast cancer; targeted therapy; TNBC subtypes; immunotherapy
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/13/15/3739

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive and heterogeneous subtype of breast cancer associated with a high recurrence and metastasis rate that affects African-American women disproportionately. The recent approval of targeted therapies for small subgroups of TNBC patients by the US ‘Food and Drug Administration’ is a promising development. The advancement of next-generation sequencing, particularly somatic exome panels, has raised hopes for more individualized treatment plans. However, the use of precision medicine for TNBC is a work in progress. This review will discuss the potential benefits and challenges of precision medicine for TNBC. A recent clinical trial designed to target TNBC patients based on their subtype-specific classification shows promise. Yet, tumor heterogeneity and sub-clonal evolution in primary and metastatic TNBC remain a challenge for oncologists to design adaptive precision medicine-based treatment plans.