Dr. Arun on Ongoing Research in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Banu Arun, MD, professor in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses ongoing research in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

TNBC is a very heterogeneous disease. The disease can be broken down into multiple subtypes and can most likely be targeted with multiple agents that target different pathways, says Arun. Physicians are pretty confident that a single agent will not be enough to treat the disease, unless they can identify a very specific pathway that is involved in the proliferation of that subtype.

Physicians have yet to reach that conclusion, says Arun, and as there are no existing biomarkers of response, research continues to investigate different therapeutic agents. Physicians are now starting to explore targeted therapies with immunotherapy and immunomodulation as well as targeting the PI3K/mTOR/AKT pathway. There are some antibody-drug conjugates under development as well.

Another approach is to target the androgen receptor in TNBC, though none of these approaches are standard of care, notes Arun.