Novel transcripts associated with lymph node metastasis in triple negative breast cancer [validation cohort]

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive breast cancer subtype with the worst prognosis. It is characterised by the absence of hormone receptors for estrogen, progesterone, and human epidermal growth factor 2, and as a consequence there are no targeted endocrine treatments available. TNBC patients are more likely to develop metastases and disease relapse than patients with other breast cancer subtypes. The identification of biomarkers that can be used to predict which patient is likely to develop metastatic disease remains a priority since this is the major cause of cancer-related death in these women. To validate results of the gene expression arrays, we used an independent cohort with 16 TNBC primary tumours and 4 normal adjacent tissues, and 48 IDCs from patients with breast cancer other than TNBC.