Basal-like carcinoma

The basal-like carcinoma is a newly proposed subtype of breast cancer defined by its gene expression and protein expression profile [Phenotypic evaluation of the basal-like subtype of invasive breast carcinoma, Modern Pathology 19:264-271 (2006), via [http://www.nature.com/modpathol/journal/v19/n2/abs/3800528a.html www.nature.com] ] . In the current WHO breast tumor classification, these tumors are classified as ductal carcinoma. They are high grade, "triple-negative" tumors, i.e. they express no estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor nor Her2/neu proteins.

Basal-like carcinomas tend to be more aggressive, with a poor prognosis. In the U.S., they are more frequent among black women, which may explain the higher mortality rate in this group.

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