In the present study we used qPCR for the assessment of somatic copy number (CN) alterations in 14 genes on chr17p and chr17q, including ERBB2 and TOP2A. CN alterations were compared to those assessed by classic FISH and were evaluated for their impact on the outcome of patients with operable high-risk breast cancer treated with anthracycline-containing regimens in the pre-trastuzumab era. Here, ERBB2 is linked to breast cancer.