1Department of General Surgery, Anam Hospital, Korea University, College of Medicine, 126-, Anam-dong 5-ga, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, Korea 2Department of General Surgery, Guro Hospital, Korea University, College of Medicine, 97 Gurodong-Gil Guro-Ku, Seoul, Korea 3Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Anam Hospital, Korea University, College of Medicine, 126-, Anam-dong 5-ga, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, Korea
Purpose Triple-negative breast cancer typically results in poorer prognoses compared to non-triple negative
breast cancer, even in early stages. The initial management of triple negative breast cancer patients and detection
of clear prognostic factors are therefore of great importance. We aimed to identify specific prognostic factors
associated with unfavorable outcomes of triple negative breast cancer in T1-2 node-negative breast cancer.
Materials and Methods We analyzed breast cancer patients without lymph node metastasis or distant metastasis
who underwent curative surgery at the Anam Hospital of the Korea University Medical Center between 1995 and
2006. Among them, patients were eligible for analysis, only if the reports about hormone receptor and human
epidermal growth factor receptor-2 status were available. Clinico-pathological features were reviewed by
retrospective examination and comparison of medical records of triple negative breast cancer and non-triple
negative breast cancer patients.
Results Seventy-nine patients (22.9%) were categorized to the triple negative breast cancer group. The diseasefree
survival rate of TNBC p53-positive patients was significantly lower than that of p53-negative patients (p
=0.028). In multivariate analysis, young age was an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival of the
triple negative breast cancer group. High Ki-67 expression was a significant prognostic factor in univariate analysis
in triple negative breast cancer, but it was not significant in multivariate analysis.
Conclusion We suggest that age is an independent prognostic factor of triple negative breast cancer in T1-2 and
node-negative patients and that Ki-67 could also be a prognostic factor in these patients.
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