What is the Triple Negative Trial?

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.

“Triple negative” tumours account for 15% to 20% of all breast cancers in the UK and are most common in young, pre-menopausal women and more frequent in those of African ethnicity. However, although this type of breast cancer is more common in women of African origin, it mostly occurs in Caucasian women in the UK due to the demographic of the country’s population. Although standard breast cancer chemotherapies are used, there is currently no targeted treatment like Herceptin or tamoxifen for women with “triple negative” breast cancer.

The Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Cancer Research UK Triple Negative Trial aims to develop a more tailored and effective chemotherapy treatment for women with hormone and HER2 receptor negative 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 is being co-ordinated by The Institute of Cancer Research’s Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU) which specialises in large studies of breast cancer treatments, and King’s College School of Medicine.

What treatments will be tested?

The trial will compare the response of tumours to carboplatin, a platinum-based drug, with docetaxel, the current standard treatment. Patients entered into the trial will be allocated at random to one of two groups. One group will receive carboplatin, and the other docetaxel. Patient progress with be carefully monitored to determine whether carboplatin is a more effective treatment for women with this type of breast cancer.

This work 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 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 where the BRCA1 gene is damaged. Scientists have also shown that platinum-based drugs like carboplatin are more effective than other chemotherapy drugs in killing cancer cells with faulty BRCA genes. Because of this, scientists now need to find out whether carboplatin is an effective treatment for women with hormone and HER2 receptor negative breast cancer by conducting a randomised clinical trial.

Ultimately it is hoped that carboplatin, which is not currently used to treat breast cancer, could become part of a new, more tailored treatment for patients with "triple negative" breast cancer.

Information for the general public

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

Information for health professionals

Health Professionals who are interested in finding out more about this trial should contact their local NCRN manager or the TNT trial co-ordinator at tnt-icrctsu@icr.ac.uk.

Further information is available on the TNT page of the ICR website.