Subgroup analysis indicated that in patients without axillary lymph node metastasis, the ATG5 rs473543 AA/GA genotype was significantly related with short DFS, suggesting that treatment regimens could be optimized according to the ATG5 rs473543 genotype to improve the clinical outcomes in lymph node-negative TNBC patients. The gene discussed is ATG5; the disease is metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.