Upon stratification of basal CK5/6 expression pattern, univariate analysis revealed that a positive CK5/6 staining in ≥ 10% of the HER2+ breast cancer tissue sections (but not a positive CK5/6 < 10%) predicted a significantly worse 5-year DFS (hazard ratio 4.17, 95% confidence interval 1.96–8.98; P < 0.001). Here, ERBB2 is linked to breast cancer.