The Effect of Margin Width on Local Recurrence of Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Data addressing margin width and the risk of local recurrence (LR) for women undergoing breast-conserving therapy have not revealed improved recurrence rates with larger negative margins. However, incidence of LR has been revealed to vary between breast cancer subtypes, with the incidence of LR higher for triple negative (TN) breast cancer than for non-TN cancers, raising the question of whether the same margin width is appropriate for all breast cancer subtypes. This paper reviews the literature addressing margin status in breast-conserving therapy within the TN subtype. Current evidence does not support a wider surgical margin for TN breast cancer. Recent studies reveal similar LR for TN breast cancer treated with breast conservation and with mastectomy, suggesting that cancer biology, and not the negative margin width, determines the risk of LR.