Biologic and clinical characteristics of breast cancer with single hormone receptor positive phenotype

Response to endocrine therapy in breast cancer correlates with estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR) status. It is usually easier to decide treatment strategies in cases of double-positive/-negative phenotypes than in single-positive tumors.

We have examined a large and well-characterized series of primary invasive breast carcinoma (1,944 cases) with long-term clinical follow-up and hormone therapy data. Patients were stratified according to ER and PgR expression and the study was focused on the single-positive groups (ER-/PgR+ and ER+/PgR-), to assess their main features and evaluate any prognostic and predictive difference between them and compare them with the double-positive/-negative tumors.

ER+/PgR-tumors were found more frequently in elderly, postmenopausal women. The majority were grade 2 ductal/no specific type carcinomas. There was no difference between the two groups with regard to lymph node stage. Survival analyses showed no difference between the two groups in terms of disease-free interval and overall survival. However, when compared with the double-negative phenotype, ER+/PgR-showed an association with better outcome but no such survival advantage was detected in case of ER-/PgR+ tumors. In the group of patients with ER+ tumors who received adjuvant hormonal therapy, absence of PgR (ER+/PgR-) was an independent predictor of development of recurrence and shorter survival and, hence, poorer response to hormonal therapy.

ER+/PgR-and ER-/PgR+ tumors are biologically and clinically distinct groups of breast cancer that may require different treatment strategies with ER-/PgR+ exhibiting more aggressive behavioral characteristics.