Management of primary and metastatic triple negative breast cancer: perceptions of oncologists from India

In order to document the understanding of current evidence for the management of triple negative breast cancer and application of this knowledge in daily practice, we conducted an interactive survey of practicing Indian oncologists.

A core group of academic oncologists devised two hypothetical triple negative cases (metastatic and early breast cancer, respectively) and multiple choice options under different clinical circumstances. The respondents were practicing oncologists in different Indian cities who participated in either an online survey or a meeting. The participants electronically chose their preferred option based on their everyday practice.

A total of 152 oncologists participated. Just over half (53.8%) preferred taxane based chemotherapy as first-line chemotherapy in the metastatic setting. In the adjuvant setting, a taxane regimen was chosen by 61%. Over half of respondents (52.6%) underestimated the baseline survival of a patient with node positive triple-negative tumor and 18.9% overestimated this survival compared to the estimate of the Adjuvant! program.

This data offers insight into the perceptions and practice of a diverse cross-section of practicing oncologists in India with respect to their therapeutic choices in metastatic and adjuvant settings in triple negative breast cancer.