Epidemiology and Outcomes Triple Negative Breast Cancer Patients in Saskatchewan - A Retrospective, Multi-center Cohort Study

Breast cancer is the leading cause of new cancer cases in women, with one in four cancer diagnosis being breast cancer in 2022. A subset of patients that are at higher risk of relapse and recurrent disease include those with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), representing about 15% of all breast cancers. The introduction of immunotherapy, imaging modalities and protocol, and demographic progression have altered the epidemiology of TNBC. This retrospective cohort study provides a comprehensive database of all TNBC cases in Saskatchewan from 2017 to 2023.

A preliminary analysis of 234 patients has shown an elevated mean (29.07) and median (27.99) BMI. There is a significant relationship between BMI and Death from TNBC (p < 0.001; Z = 18.13) and BMI and failure of neoadjuvant chemo- or immunotherapy as assessed by residual disease post-surgery (p < 0.001; Z = 9.99). There is a positive correlation between the presence of tumor necrosis and pre-systemic therapy peritumoral edema on MRI (p < 0.001; Φ = 0.399), and rim enhancement on MRI (p < 0.001; Φ = 0.234), as well as Stage T3 or greater disease and peritumoral edema (p < 0.001; Φ = 0.438) or rim enhancement (p < 0.001; Φ = 0.398).