Ki-67 for further classification of triple negative breast cancer

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) demonstrates poor prognosis because of aggressive tumor biology and lack of targeted agents.
TNBC with high Ki-67 was associated with a more aggressive clinical feature despite a higher pCR rate. Ki-67 can be used for further classification of TNBC into two subtypes with different prognosis. Our report suggests that TNBC with residual disease and high Ki-67 expression should be a candidate for additional postoperative treatment such as platinum-based chemotherapy, or clinical trials specifically testing novel therapies in order to improve the outcome for this high-risk group of patients. In addition, TNBC with high Ki-67 should be followed-up more frequently within 3 years to guard for any recurrence

Bibliographic Reference:

Keam B et al.: "Ki-67 can be used for further classification of triple negative breast cancer into two subtypes with different response and prognosis", Breast Cancer Res. 2011 Mar 2;13(2):R22. [Epub ahead of print]

Bhumsuk Keam

Department  of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea