TNBC vs non-TNBC: A retrospective review of differences in mean age, family history, smoking history, and stage at diagnosis.

Abstract

Purpose: This study was designed to compare mean age, ethnicity, smoking history, family history of breast cancer, and stage at diagnosis in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) vs non-TNBC at an inner city university program.

Methods: We reviewed data in our tumor registry on patients seen between January 2000 and December 2005, and identified a total of 445 patients with various subtypes of breast cancers. Of these, 342 patients met our study criteria. Thirty-nine patients had TNBC and 303 had non-TNBC.

Results: The mean age at diagnosis was 59.87 ± 15.67 years for TNBC and 60.09 ± 13.98 years for non-TNBC (P=.9272). TNBC was more common in black than in white patients (58.97% vs 35.90%; OR, 2.755; P=.004), and non-TNBC was more common in white than in black patients (57.76% vs 39.27%). There was not a statistically significant difference in past or present smoking between the TNBC and non-TNBC patients (20.51% vs 27.72%; P=.4385). Family history of breast cancer was not statistically related to TNBC status: a positive family history was reported in 30.77% of TNBC patients vs 33.33% of non-TNBC patients (P=.8384), no family history was reported in 51.28% of TNBC patients vs 51.82% of non-TNBC patients, and family history was unknown in 17.95% of TNBC patients vs 14.85% of non-TNBC patients. Pathologic stage at the time of diagnosis was as follows for TNBC vs non-TNBC patients: stage 0, 15.79% vs 11.37% (P=.4332); stage I, 34.21% vs 30.98% (P=.6890); stage II, 28.98% vs 37.25% (P=.3205); stage III, 18.42% vs 17.25% (P=.8591); and stage IV, 3.63% vs 3.14% (P=.8651).

Conclusion: We found that in our patient population, black women were significantly more likely to have TNBC than non-TNBC, and white women were more likely to have non-TNBC than TNBC.