Subtypes of Breast cancer

There are five main intrinsic or molecular subtypes of breast cancer that are based on the genes cancer expresses:

• Luminal A breast cancer is hormone-receptor-positive (estrogen-receptor and/or progesterone-receptor positive), HER2 negative, and has low levels of the protein Ki-67, which helps control how fast cancer cells grow. Luminal A cancers are low-grade, tend to grow slowly and have the best prognosis.
• Luminal B breast cancer is hormone-receptor-positive (estrogen-receptor and/or progesterone-receptor positive), and either HER2 positive or HER2 negative with high levels of Ki-67. Luminal B cancers generally grow slightly faster than luminal A cancers and their prognosis is slightly worse.
• Triple-negative/basal-like breast cancer is hormone-receptor-negative (estrogen-receptor and progesterone-receptor negative) and HER2 negative. This type of cancer is more common in women with BRCA1 gene mutations. Researchers aren’t sure why, but this type of cancer also is more common among younger and African-American women.
• HER2-enriched breast cancer is hormone-receptor-negative (estrogen-receptor and progesterone-receptor negative) and HER2 positive. HER2-enriched cancers tend to grow faster than luminal cancers and can have a worse prognosis, but they are often successfully treated with targeted therapies aimed at the HER2 protein.
• Normal-like breast cancer is similar to luminal A disease: hormone-receptor positive (estrogen-receptor and/or progesterone-receptor positive), HER2 negative, and has low levels of the protein Ki-67, which helps control how fast cancer cells grow. Still, while normal-like breast cancer has a good prognosis, its prognosis is slightly worse than luminal A cancer’s prognosis.