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Triple-negative treatment an area of high interest?

Page last modified on: August 19, 2008
Question from AngieSuarez: How much interest is there in the medical community in finding treatments for triple-negative breast cancer? Is this currently a "hot area" of research?
Answer —George Sledge, M.D.: This is an exceptionally hot area of research in the breast cancer field. From the standpoint of being an unmet medical need, this is an area that many pharmaceutical companies are interested in as the therapeutic niches of estrogen-receptor-positive and HER2-positive breast cancer are already occupied with active agents. Whereas outside chemotherapy, we currently lack any targeted therapies for triple-negative breast cancer. So there is immense interest among drug developers, pharmaceutical companies, and breast cancer laboratory researchers in finding targeted therapies for these patients. Simply to call a cancer a triple-negative breast cancer to a certain extent points to some of the problem that we are dealing with. Imagine walking down the street, seeing a red-headed woman and turning to the person you are walking with and saying, "There is a non-blonde non-brunette who doesn't have a beard!" That is the current status of triple-negative breast cancer. We need to turn it from a negative definition into a biologically positive definition by coming up with therapeutic targeting of growth factors for triple-negative breast cancer. When we do so, we will have certainly advanced therapy for women with this disease.

On Wednesday, July 16, 2008 our Ask-the-Expert Online Conference was called Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. George Sledge, M.D. and Beth Baughman DuPree, M.D., F.A.C.S. answered your questions about triple-negative breast cancer and its treatment.

The materials presented in these conferences do not necessarily reflect the views of breastcancer.org. A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product or regimen discussed. All readers should verify all information and data before employing any therapies described here.

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Meet the Experts

George Sledge, M.D.George Sledge, M.D. is the Ballvé-Lantero Professor of Oncology at Indiana University at Indianapolis, where he co-directs Indiana University Simon Cancer Center's Breast Cancer Program.

Beth Baughman DuPree, M.D., F.A.C.S.Beth Baughman DuPree, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a general surgeon. Her clinical practice is located at Holy Redeemer Hospital and St. Mary Medical Center.

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