Emerging Prognostic and Predictive Biomarkers for Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is associated with a poor prognosis especially in the advanced setting and continues to pose a challenge for oncologists worldwide. Several biomarkers for this disease have been described. Recently the heterogeneity of TNBC has changed our perspective toward this disease. Differential response of TNBC to chemotherapy, poor prognosis of patients with residual disease following neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and the immunogenicity underlying TNBC make the management of this disease even more complex. Multiple signaling pathways and dynamic pathway programming are the hallmarks of TNBC. Newer trials for this disease therefore, need to be innovative and include biomarker enrichment and adaptive designs. This article highlights the emerging prognostic and predictive biomarkers for TNBC and discusses possible targets for future therapeutic strategies. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York.