Test May Determine Which Cases of TNBC are Likely to Metastasize

As many as two-thirds of those who get adjuvant chemotherapy (after surgery) for triple-negative breast cancer probably do not need it, according to researchers writing in Breast Cancer Research, published online October 31, 2013.  Yet, chemo remains the most effective way to keep the disease from metastasizing, so it becomes a pricey (in our pocketbooks and our bodies) insurance against recurrence.  And it is insurance we pay because the alternative is terrifying.

Wouldn't it be great to have a test that determines which cases of TNBC are likely to metastasize and which have a pretty rosy prognosis even without chemo?  There could be.  Scientists suggest an Integrated Cytokine Score (ICS), containing three IR-7 genes (TNFRSF17, HLA-F, XCL2) and two Buck-4 genes (CXCL13, CLIC5).  The presence of these genes suggest cases that are likely to spread.  Read the entire research article here.

• Read more about TNBC in my book, Surviving Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

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