Even though chemotherapy is the standard treatment for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC), it’s not uncommon for these drugs to stop working eventually.
To understand why, it helps to keep in mind that breast cancer is made up of different types of cancerous cells. And while chemotherapy can be effective at destroying some kinds of cells, it may not be able to destroy other kinds, says Marisa Weiss, MD, chief medical officer and founder of Breastcancer.org, a patient-focused resource for people with breast cancer.
What’s more, breast cancer cells can also become resistant to chemotherapy over time, which makes the treatment less effective, says Mahmoud Charif, MD, a professor of clinical internal medicine at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine. This is especially the case for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, which tends to be a more aggressive form of cancer.
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