DNA repair competency is one determinant of sensitivity to certain chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin. Cancer cells with intact DNA repair can avoid the accumulation of genome damage during growth and also can repair platinum-induced DNA damage. We sought genomic signatures indicative of defective DNA repair in cell lines and tumors, and correlated these signatures to platinum sensitivity. The number of sub-chromosomal regions with allelic imbalance extending to the telomere (NtAI) predicted cisplatin sensitivity in-vitro, and pathologic response to preoperative cisplatin treatment in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). In serous ovarian cancer treated with platinum-based chemotherapy, higher NtAI forecast better initial response. We found an inverse relationship between BRCA1 expression and NtAI in sporadic TNBC and serous ovarian cancers without BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Thus, accumulation of tAI is a marker of platinum sensitivity and suggests impaired DNA repair.