Date Time IU School of Medicine scientists discover ‘game-changer’ treatment for triple negative breast cancer The new precision immunotherapy for triple negative breast cancer was developed from a mushroom toxin. Image courtesy of Xiongbin Lu A team of Indiana University School of Medicine researchers has developed a novel antibody-drug conjugate for treating triple negative breast cancer. The study, led by senior author Xiongbin Lu, Vera Bradley Foundation Professor of Breast Cancer Innovation at the IU School of Medicine, has been published in the prestigious interdisciplinary medical journal, Science Translational Medicine. Triple negative breast cancer accounts for about 15 percent of all breast cancer cases. When a patient tests negative for estrogen receptors and progesterone receptors and has low levels of a protein called HER2, the patient is considered to have “triple negative” breast cancer. Patients with triple negative breast cancer typically have the poorest prognosis because there are not very many treatment options.