Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) may have diverse defects in HR DNA repair, through germline mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2 and PALB2, somatic mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2, promoter methylation of BRCA1 and RAD51C, and other as yet to be identified mechanisms1–4. Here, BRCA2 is linked to triple-negative breast carcinoma.