Abstract: Objective To compare the clinical characteristics and prognosis between triple-negative (TNBC) and non-triple-negative breast cancer (NTNBC). Methods From 2003 to 2010, 560 hospitalized invasive breast cancer patients were retrospectively analyzed. 3 year, 5 year survival rate and clinical characteristics were compared between TNBC and NTNBC. Results In patients with TNBC, 3- and 5-year survival rate were 85.5% and 73.3%, respectively. Which were significantly lower than that in NTNBC patients (95.1% and 88.0%, P<0.05). Recurrence and metastasis rate of TNBC patients were significantly higher than that in control group (P<0.05). Compared with NTNBC patients, TNBC patients were with a younger age at onset and larger tumor size (P<0.05). Cox multivariate analysis showed that TNBC and tumor size were independent prognostic factors. Conclusion TNBC has unique clinical characteristics. It tends to recurrence and metastasis, leading to a poor prognosis.