TNBC secondary breast cancer

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Hi, i am posting on behalf of my sister. She had TNBC (triple negative breast cancer) 2 years ago and it has come back. She has it in her brain, chest & liver. Oncology are saying she is too unwell for treatment. They are saying this as they want to give her chemotherapy. Does anyone know of any other treatments she should be being offered? Immunotherapy or drug trials. Either on the NHS or privately. Thank you

  • I am sorry to hear of your sister’s developments. TNBC isn’t all the same, it’s just the name used to describe breast cancer that doesn’t have receptors for oestrogen, progesterone or HER2. So treatment options (if they can get her well enough) will depend on which type of TNBC she has. There are some immunotherapy treatments but they don’t work on all TNBC, there are pathology tests that determine eligibility. Eg you may have heard of Pembrolizumab and its eligibility test checks that 10% or more of the cells in the sample test positive for PD-L1. The question to ask is whether they have tested her tumours to see if any of the immunotherapy drugs are suitable, and if so, what can be done about the health issues she has. 

  • Thank you for explaining this, its very helpful.