What Is Triple Negative Breast Cancer?

Dr. Harness explains triple negative breast cancer. Jay K. Harness, MD, is the Former President of the American Society of Breast Surgeons and the Medical Director of the St. Joseph Hospital Comprehensive Breast Center.

Dr. Harness:
There are currently three major markers that we look at in breast tumor. Estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, which are the two female hormones and HER2/neu which is a special genetic gene marker if you will. The most favorable of those combinations of those three markers are to be strongly estrogen receptor positive, strongly progesterone receptor positive, and weakly or negative HER2/neu. If you are triple negative across the board, that says you've got a more aggressive form of breast cancer, and we do not know why, but we tend to see the triple negatives more in African American women than in Caucasian women, and we tend to see the triple negatives in women who are inheriting their breast cancer through gene abnormalities. The BRCA cancers tend to be triple negative, which means you are in a category that is more aggressive, which means you clearly need more aggressive treatment and primarily when it comes to chemotherapy.

About Dr. Harness. M.D.:
Dr. Jay Harness is the Director at St. Joseph Hospital Comprehensive Breast Center. Practicing medicine for 35 years, Dr. Harness specializes in general surgery and medical oncology. Graduating medical school from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, he conducting his internship and residency at the University of Michigan Medical Center. Recognized nationally and internationally for his work in breast and endocrine surgery, Dr. Harness is the immediate past-President of The American Society of Breast Surgeons and is President-elect of Breast Surgery International. Dr. Harness can assist patients in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

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