Identifying and Treating Those at Risk: Disparities in Rapid Relapse Among TNBC Patients in the National Cancer Database

This study was designed to characterize features of rapid relapse TNBC (rrTNBC), an aggressive, poor prognosis breast cancer subset using the National Cancer Database (NCDB).

Patients diagnosed with TNBC between 2010 and 2019 within NCDB were included in analyses. rrTNBC was defined as all-cause mortality ≤24 months from diagnosis. Patient demographic, tumor, and treatment association with rrTNBC were evaluated in univariate, bivariate analyses, and multiple logistic regression models. Two-part models are used to compare receipt of treatment (i.e., receipt of both chemotherapy and breast surgery) versus not in its relationship with rrTNBC.

Overall, 14.5% of patients were categorized as rrTNBC. Age older than 75 years (−41.3%), Black race (−1.4%), Medicare (−2.6%), and Charlson-Deyo score ≥2 (−4.9%) were associated with a lower probability of receiving both chemotherapy and breast surgery. Not receiving both treatments (vs. receiving both chemotherapy and breast surgery) was associated with a two-to-three-fold higher probability of rrTNBC among patients aged older than 75 years (16.6% vs. 6%), having Medicare (3.6% vs. 1.6%), and Charlson-Deyo score ≥2 (16.6% vs. 5.9%).

Age, insurance, and comorbidity were related to a lower likelihood of treatment; yet receiving treatment reduced the risk of rrTNBC threefold for each. These findings might be valuable to inform clinical care delivery, as well as future research that examines treatment protocols among diverse patients.