Triple Negative Trial

Trial Design

The Triple Negative Trial (TNT) aims to improve breast cancer treatment for women with hormone and HER2 receptor negative tumours, sometimes referred to as "triple negative" breast cancer, or known BRCA1 or BRCA 2 mutation associated breast cancer.

“Triple negative” tumours account for 15% to 20% of all breast cancers in the UK. They are most common in young, pre-menopausal women and more frequent in those of African ethnicity. Although standard breast cancer chemotherapies are used to treat "triple negative" breast cancer, there is currently no targeted therapy like Herceptin or tamoxifen for the disease. 

The Triple Negative Trial aims to develop a more tailored and effective chemotherapy treatment for women with hormone and HER2 receptor negative breast cancer, or known BRCA1 or BRCA 2 mutation associated breast cancer, which has spread elsewhere in the body. It is anticipated that up to 450 women from hospitals in the UK will take part in the trial over a five year period.

The trial will evaluate the response of tumours to carboplatin, a platinum-based drug, and docetaxel, the current standard treatment.

Scientists hope that carboplatin, which is not currently used to treat breast cancer, will become part of a new, more tailored treatment for patients with "triple negative" and BRCA breast cancer.  Study participants will be allocated at random to one of two groups. One group will receive carboplatin, and the other docetaxel. Patient progress will be carefully monitored to determine whether carboplatin is a more effective treatment for women with this type of breast cancer.

This study builds on groundbreaking research led by scientists at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre at the Institute of Cancer Research, and Guy's Hospital, London. Scientists found that platinum-based drugs like carboplatin are more effective than other chemotherapy drugs in killing cancer cells with faulty BRCA genes. They also demonstrated that the BRCA1 gene is "turned off" in some “triple negative” cancers, making this type of tumour act in a similar way to some hereditary breast cancers in which the BRCA1 gene is damaged. Scientists now aim to determine whether carboplatin is an effective treatment for women with hormone and HER2 receptor negative breast cancer or known BRCA1 or BRCA 2 mutation associated breast cancer.

The trial is being co-ordinated by The Institute of Cancer Research’s Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU) and is supported by the NCRI Breast Clinical Studies Group.

Information on "triple negative" breast cancer can be found on the Breakthrough Breast Cancer website. Patients who would like more information on the Triple Negative Trial, please visit CancerHelp UK TNT.

Health professionals, who would like more information on this trial, please contact your local NCRN manager or the TNT trial co-ordinator at tnt-icrctsu@icr.ac.uk.

Further information is available at ICR.

Download the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Trial summary (PDF).