Melanin & Pink Ribbons

 The CDC states and defines Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) as a kind of breast cancer that does not have any of the receptors that are commonly found in breast cancer.

Think of cancer cells as a house. The front door may have three kinds of locks, called receptors—

• One is for the female hormone estrogen.
• One is for the female hormone progesterone.
• One is a protein called human epidermal growth factor (HER2).

If your cancer has any of these three locks, doctors have a few keys (like hormone therapy or other drugs) they can use to help destroy the cancer cells. But if you have Triple Negative Breast Cancer, it means those three locks aren’t there, so doctors have fewer keys for treatment.  

On June 21, 2023, I virtually attended the Getting Our Share 2023 Conference To End Health Disparities and learned the following about TNBC from Dr Vivian Bea:

• Triple Negative Breast Cancer is more aggressive
• It often affects younger women
• Women younger than 30 years old are overrepresented in new cases of TNBC
• TNBC is associated with the worst-case prognosis
• When compared to White women Black women have a higher rate of diagnosis of TNBC
• Black women have a higher rate of mortality from TNBC than White women

These facts are alarming to women but especially catastrophic for Black women. We are being diagnosed and dying from Triple Negative Breast Cancer more than white women. That is unacceptable and tragic for generations of Black women. I am not going to sugarcoat this because it is nothing to play about and as a Survivor and blogger on breast cancer and Black women these facts sadden me.  There is work to do and my next blogpost will be on Triple Negative Breast Cancer so stay tuned.