Triple Negative Breast Cancer occurs when breast cancer cells do not express any of the three common biomarkers (ER, PR, HER2).  Although TNBC is harder to treat than other breast cancers (since there aren't as many systemic therapy options), remember that there are still multiple lines of treatment that women do very well on, along with new and promising clinical trials every year that are demonstrating the incredible progress in the field of breast cancer research. To learn more about the innovative and incredible field of breast cancer research, check out our blog here! 

Treatment Options 
Treatment options differ for triple negative breast cancer vary, but the most common treatment is chemotherapy, which almost all people with TNBC receive. Immunotherapy and targeted therapy are also options for those with TNBC.  

Local Therapies 
Local therapies are therapies that are meant to eliminate the cancer cells in the breast. The two main types of local therapies are surgery and radiation therapy.
Surgery/Radiation Therapy 
If your TNBC is stage I, II, or III, surgery (most likely coupled with one or more of the systemic therapies below) is usually a part of the treatment plan, in order to remove the cancerous cells from your breast. Surgical options include a lumpectomy or mastectomy, sometimes coupled with radiation therapy, depending on the size and grade of the cancer.  If your TNBC is stage IV, surgery is usually not an effective treatment, as the cancer has already spread; however radiation therapy may be beneficial, and systemic therapy will most likely be your main line of treatment. To learn more about surgery or radiation therapy, click on the underlined names.

Systemic Therapy
Systemic therapies are therapies meant to inhibit cancer growth and spread throughout the body, rather than solely in the breast. Systemic therapies are the main treatment for stage IV/Metastatic breast cancers, and are also used to prevent stage I, II, or III cancers from recurring after surgery or to prevent in situ (stage 0) cancers from becoming invasive. 
Although there aren't as many systemic therapy options for TNBC as there are for other breast cancers, there are still a variety of options, including chemotherapy (which almost all with TNBC usually receive), immunotherapy, and TNBC specific targeted therapy. 

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1) Chemotherapy 
Chemotherapy is a type of systemic therapy that is used to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy is an option for stages I, II, III, and IV. For TNBC, your doctor will almost always prescribe chemotherapy as a line of treatment. The most common chemotherapies are anthracyclines (also known as adriamycins) such as doxorubicin and epirubicin and taxanes such as paclitaxel and doxetaxal. To learn more about chemotherapy, click here.
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2) Targeted Therapy
Targeted Therapies are a type of systemic therapy that target proteins that are on the surface of breast cancer cells.  TNBC targeted therapies are used in combination with chemotherapy to find and kill cancer cells. ​
Trodelvy (the antibody drug conjugate used to treat TNBC) is engineered to find Trop 2, a protein on the surface of TNBC breast cancer cells that fuels their growth, and the chemotherapy can then kill the cancer cells.
​Trodelvy is usually used a third line treatment for TNBC (after two rounds of chemo).
To learn more about targeted therapies, click here. 

3) Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is an innovative treatment option that is showing promising outcomes, especially in later stage TNBC. Immunotherapy works through inhibiting checkpoint proteins that hide cancer cells from t-cells (your bodies immune system cells), therefore allowing your immune system to find and attack cancer cells. To learn more about immunotherapy, click here.