Joan Lunden has triple negative breast cancer

[trigger]

Joan Lunden is proudly gracing the cover of People magazine without her wig, following her battle with triple negative breast cancer.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/joan-lunden-opens-cancer-battle-losing-hair/story?id=25723580


(Gee I never heard of that before). Is it bad?? Treatable?

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

What is Triple Negative Breast Cancer?

A diagnosis of triple negative breast cancer means that the three most common types of receptors known to fuel most breast cancer growth–estrogen, progesterone, and the HER-2/neu gene– are not present in the cancer tumor. This means that the breast cancer cells have tested negative for hormone epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2), estrogen receptors (ER), and progesterone receptors (PR)...

http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/triple-negative-breast-cancer

 

[trigger]

From BettyDavisEyes article...

In fact, triple negative breast cancer may respond even better to chemotherapy in the earlier stages than many other forms of cancer.

But....

Triple negative breast cancer can be more aggressive and difficult to treat. Also, the cancer is more likely to spread and recur. The stage of breast cancer and the grade of the tumor will influence your prognosis.


(I alerted a Mod to correct her name, sorry)