Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous group of tumors. The absence of estrogen, progesterone, and HER-2 receptors (triple negative tumors, TN) is associated with large size carcinomas, high histologic grade and increased recurrence than other subtypes. Objective: To describe the clinicopathological features of patients with TN invasive breast cancer and compare them with those with tumors that express at least one positive receptor (+1RP). Materials and methods: Were retrospectively analyzed 185 patients with invasive breast cancer who attended in Neuquen Provincial Hospital between January 2006 and December 2010. Patients were grouped into TN and +1RP tumors. Results: 19.5% (36/185) of patients had TN and 80.5% (149/185) +1RP tumors. Mean follow-up was 2.5±1.5 years (range 0-6 years), and age at diagnosis was 54.9±2.1 years in TN and 55.4 55.4±1.0 years in +1RP. Histologic grade III was statistically more frequent in TN than +1RP tumors (73.5% vs. 41.8%, p =.0008). Also, size of TN tumors were larger and more advanced stages than those with +1RP. Recurrence was statistically higher in TN tumors (22.6% vs. 7.5%, p =.0132). Any significant differences were found neither overall survival nor time to progression in both groups. Conclusion: Patients with triple negative breast cancer presented with large tumoral size, high histological grade and more advanced tumors than rest of patients at diagnosis.