Objective Based on the immunohistochemical (IHC) classification of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) at Fudan University Cancer Center, the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of different subtypes are discussed.

Methods A total of 176 TNBC specimens were collected. The expression levels of androgen receptor (AR), CD8, forkhead box C1 (FOXC1) and doublecortin-like kinase 1 (DCLK1) in the specimens were detected by IHC method and classified into different subtypes. The clinical data of the patients were collected and followed up.

Results Among 176 TNBC patients, 171 patients were finally enrolled after excluding non-classifiers, namely: luminal androgen receptor (LAR) (n = 41, 23.98%), immunomodulatory (IM) (n = 50, 29.24%), basal-like and immune suppressed (BLIS) (n = 54, 31.58%), and mesenchymal-like subtype (MES) (n = 26, 15.20%). There were significant differences in menstrual status, lymph node metastasis, p53, Ki67, 5-year disease-free survival, and 5-year survival (P ＜ 0.05 to P ＜ 0.01). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that IHC typing and lymph node metastasis were independent risk factors for recurrence and metastasis in TNBC patients (P ＜ 0.01). Lymph node metastasis status was an independent risk factor for death in TNBC patients (P ＜ 0.05).

Conclusion There are differences in the pathologic characteristics and prognosis of TNBC patients with different IHC subtypes, which has certain guiding value for prognosis evaluation and treatment of TNBC.