Triple Negative Breast Cancer

TNBC –
The Most Aggressive Subtype of Breast Cancer¹

TNBC is characterized by the absence of progesterone and estrogen receptor expression and lacks gene amplification or overexpression of HER2²

TNBC Has a Lower 5-year Relative Survival Rate Compared with Other Breast Cancer Subtypes in the US (2015–2021)³

The best survival pattern was observed among women with the HR+/Her2- subtype, followed by the HR+/Her2+ subtype and the HR-/Her2+ subtype. The HR-/Her2- subtype had the worst survival.

KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of patients with high-risk early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in combination with chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment, and then continued as a single agent as adjuvant treatment after surgery ⁴

KEYTRUDA is the only IO to demonstrate an Overall Survival benefit in both early-stage and metastatic TNBC ^5,6

Bao B, Prasad AS. Targeting CSC in a Most Aggressive Subtype of Breast Cancer TNBC. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019;1152:311-334. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-20301-6_17. PMID: 31456192..
Karim AM, Eun Kwon J, Ali T, Jang J, Ullah I, Lee YG, Park DW, Park J, Jeang JW, Kang SC. Triple-negative breast cancer: epidemiology, molecular mechanisms, and modern vaccine-based treatment strategies. Biochem Pharmacol. 2023 Jun;212:115545. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2023.115545. Epub 2023 Apr 11. PMID: 37044296
National Cancer Institute. Female Breast Cancer Subtypes — Cancer Stat Facts. Available at: https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/breast-subtypes.html. Accessed October 23, 2024.
Ministry of Health, Israel. Patient Leaflet – Keytruda. Published February 2025.
Schmid P et al., Overall Survival with Pembrolizumab in Early-Stage Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2024 Nov 28;391(21):1981-1991. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2409932. Epub 2024 Sep 15. PMID: 39282906.
MSD. MSD Announces Phase 3 KEYNOTE-522 Trial Met its Overall Survival (OS) Endpoint in Patients with High-Risk Early-Stage Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). Available at: https://www.merck.com/news/merck-announces-phase-3-keynote-522-trial-met-its-overall-survival-os-endpoint-in-patients-with-high-risk-early-stage-triple-negative-breast-cancer-tnbc/. Accessed April 10, 2025