I am 40 years old. How is life after stage 1 TNBC surgery?

Question

Hello doctor,

I need your advice. I have stage 1 triple-negative breast cancer in my right breast, and surgery is scheduled for next week. I am 40 years old and have had type 1 diabetes since childhood. Can I live a normal life after surgery? What complications might occur during breast removal surgery? Is a complete cure possible at this stage? The doctor said I had a BRCA mutation, but none of my parents had cancer. Could the test be wrong, or is a false positive possible? Does this mutation increase my children’s risk of cancer? I feel too young for breast cancer why did this happen to me?

Kindly suggest.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I can understand your concern.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) lacks estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), making it unresponsive to hormonal or HER2-targeted therapies. For stage 1 TNBC, surgery is the primary treatment, followed by systemic therapy to address residual cancer cells. The survival rate is up to 99 percent with proper treatment, but lifelong follow-up is crucial.

Hereditary cancers often occur at a younger age. The BRCA (breast cancer) mutation may have been inherited, even if your parents did not have cancer, as not everyone with the mutation develops it. Testing siblings and children is recommended for monitoring. Immune checkpoint inhibitors like Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and PARP(Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase) inhibitors like Olaparib (Lynparza) are approved for early and advanced TNBC with BRCA mutations.

I hope this helps.

Let me know if you have any other concerns.

Thank you.