Steroid Receptors in Breast Cancer

The authors have reviewed some of the possible reasons for the lack of complete correlation between tumor estrogen-receptor analysis and response to endocrine therapy in the present article. While the analysis of progesterone receptors in breast cancer seems to have improved the ability to select patients for endocrine therapy, it is still not completely predictive. Other measures of estrogen responsiveness are currently under investigation. A wide variety of ablative and additive endocrine therapies have been used successfully in patients with breast cancer. In addition, numerous cytotoxic chemotherapy regimens have proved effective in the treatment of this disease. Whenever possible, tumor samples should be obtained for both estrogen- and progesterone-receptor analysis before any therapy is started. Once this information is obtained, the physician can then make a decision regarding therapy, which would have a high probability of success while minimizing the risk to the patient.