The UK charity dedicated to Triple Negative Breast Cancer

There are 4 main types of breast cancer, of which triple negative breast cancer is one. There are significant differences between them, especially in the way they are treated.

For 3 of these types of breast cancer, microscopic ‘receptors' , which are chemicals or proteins on, or in, breast cancer cells that can easily be detected in the laboratory.

Most breast cancers have one or more of these receptors but about 1 in 6 have none or very few receptors. They are therefore ‘negative’ for all three; hence, they are said to be triple negative, sometimes abbreviated to TNBC.

You can find more information to help you understand what TNBC is here.

Not all breast cancers are the same. There are 4 main types, and there are significant differences between them, especially in the way they are treated. 

To diagnose breast cancer, and decide which type of breast cancer it is, a biopsy is undertaken, where a small part of the breast lump is sent to a laboratory for testing. Here the sample is tested for microscopic ‘receptors’, which are chemicals or proteins on, or in, breast cancer cells.

There are 3 types of receptors: estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR) and human epidermal growth factor (HER2). Most breast cancers have one or more of these receptors and are said to be hormone receptor positive (if ER and/or PR is present) or HER2 positive (if HER2 is present at high levels).  

But about 1 in 6 breast cancers either have none, or very few of these receptors. This fourth type is, therefore, ‘negative’ for all 3 receptors and said to be ‘triple negative’, sometimes abbreviated to TNBC.

The best source of information about trials is the Cancer Research UK website. 

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This is comprehensive and up to date, and includes all trials currently recruiting in the UK, not just those funded by Cancer Research UK.

This site can be tricky to navigate, and needs time and patience to see which trials are still open and may be suitable for you. There are separate trials for people with early stage/primary and those with advanced/metastatic breast cancer. Some trials will only be open to people with TNBC, and others to those with HR positive or HER2 positive breast cancer. Other trials may be open to people whether they have TNBC, HR positive or HER2 positive breast cancer. You will also need to meet other eligibility criteria and be sufficiently well.

The best way is to use the search box on the Cancer Research UK homepage to search ‘trials’ and when open, use the next box to search ‘triple negative breast bancer’……you will then see a large number of trials for TNBC from which you can choose.

At the end of the list of trials for TNBC, there is a further list of trials which apply to all types of breast cancers, not just TNBC, for which you may also be eligible. 

If the trial you are interested in is not available at your treatment center, you can ask to be referred to another where it is open.

On the Cancer Research UK site there is also comprehensive advice on what it means to be in a trial and how to be accepted for a trial.