World Journal of Public Health 2019; 4(2): 43-46 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/wjph doi: 10.11648/j.wjph.20190402.13 ISSN: 2637-6040 (Print); ISSN: 2637-6059 (Online) Prevalence of Triple Negative Breast Cancers from a Hospital-Based Cancer Registry in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Kerala, South India Neena Mary 1 , Catherin Nisha 2, * , Kerline Jerome 2 , Clint Vaz 2 , Vijayalaxmi Nair 3 1 Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Thrissur, South India 2 Department of Community Medicine, Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Thrissur, India 3 Department of Pathology, Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Thrissur, India Email address: * Corresponding author To cite this article: Neena Mary, Catherin Nisha, Kerline Jerome, Clint Vaz, Vijayalaxmi Nair. Prevalence of Triple Negative Breast Cancers from a Hospital-Based Cancer Registry in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Kerala, South India. World Journal of Public Health. Vol. 4, No. 2, 2019, pp. 43-46. doi: 10.11648/j.wjph.20190402.13 Received: June 16, 2019; Accepted: July 3, 2019; Published: July 16, 2019 Abstract: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is defined by the absence of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and over expression of Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2neu). They are typically high-grade tumors and occur in young females. Our study is to determine the prevalence of triple negative breast cancers from a hospital-based cancer registry in the year 2016. This is a retrospective, descriptive study where secondary data analysis was done, by obtaining data from the hospital-based immunohistochemistry (IHC) register. The Estrogen receptor, Progesterone receptor and Her2neu receptor status of the breast cancers which presented to the hospital and the referral cases received for IHC in the year 2016 was obtained from the register which totaled to 335 cases. The type of breast carcinoma was also noted. In our study the mean age of breast cancer patients was 56.2±12.387 years. There was 331 (98.8%) females among the study population. The most prevalent type of breast cancer was invasive ductal carcinoma which was 330 (98.5%). We also found out the prevalence of mono negative, bi negative and triple negative breast cancers. The prevalence of triple negative breast cancer was 58 (17.31%). There was no statistically significant difference found between prevalence of triple negative breast cancer and age. Our study showed that the prevalence of triple negative receptor breast was 17.31% among the study population. This study would serve as a baseline study for further research to open up new therapeutic possibilities. Keywords: Immuno Histo Chemistry, Triple Negative Breast Cancer, Hospital Based Cancer Registry, South India 1. Introduction Cancer is rampantly becoming one of the major health problems in the present era [1]. The most prevalent cancer globally among women is breast cancer and represents the second most common cause of cancer death among women [2]. More than 1.1 million cases are diagnosed each year and more than 410,000 patients die of the disease worldwide [3]. The receptor status of breast cancer is assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) based on the presence of Estrogen receptors (ER), Progesterone receptors (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor (Her2neu) [4]. Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are defined as tumors that lack expression of Estrogen receptor, Progesterone receptor, and Her2neu [5]. Generally 10–24% of invasive breast cancers fall into this category. TNBCs are typically high-grade tumors, although low-grade tumors do occur [6]. Breast cancers occurring in patients with germ line BRCA1 mutations are often triple negative. TNBCs have higher rates of occurrence among young females [6]. A similar type of triple-negative breast cancer is basal-like breast cancer (BLBC). This molecular subtype of breast cancer is characterized by a gene-expression profile that is similar to that of the basal–myoepithelial layer of the normal breast tissue. Multiple studies have indicated that triple negative and