Clinicopathological Characteristics and Treatment Strategies of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients With a Survival Longer than 5 Years

PURPOSE: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by high malignancy and a poor prognosis. Patients with TNBC who survive longer than 5 years represent a unique portion of the population. This study aimed to analyze the clinicopathological features, explore prognostic factors, and evaluate treatment options for these patients. METHODS: A total of 24,943 TNBC patients were enrolled from the national Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between January 2010 and December 2016. The patients were divided into three groups: group 1, survival time <3 years; group 2, 3–5 years; and group 3, survival time ≥5 years. The overall survival (OS) and breast cancer cause-specific survival (BCSS) were primarily assessed in this study. A propensity score analysis was used to avoid bias caused by the data selection criteria. We used a Cox hazard ratio analysis to determine prognostic factors, which were selected as nomogram parameters to develop a model for predicting patient survival. RESULTS: Patients who survived longer than 5 years were more likely to be younger than 55 years, Caucasian, and exhibit a lower AJCC stage, N stage, distant metastasis, lymph node (LN) involvement, and tumor size than those with a shorter survival time (p < 0.05). The multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that age, race, tumor size, LN status, and chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors. Subgroup analyses for patients with tumors ≤20 mm displayed a superior OS and BCSS for breast-conserving surgery (BCS) not treated with a mastectomy. BCS provided at least an equivalent prognosis to a mastectomy in patients with tumors larger than 20 mm. A nomogram with a C-index of 0.776 (95% confidence interval: 0.767–0.785) was developed to predict the 3- and 5-year survival probability for the patients with TNBC. CONCLUSION: A localized surgical approach may represent a superior choice for TNBC patients with a survival time longer than 5 years. Our study indicated that age, race, tumor size, LN status, and chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors. A prognostic nomogram directly quantified patient risk and was better able to predict long-term survival in TNBC patients.