[The relationship between the receptor status and the mammographic picture in operable breast cancer]

To verify the relationship of mammographic (Mx) patterns of breast cancer to hormone receptor content (ER, PgR) we studied 129 women (59% in postmenopause; average age 55) in the last 3 years. All women had operable breast cancer and were submitted to mammography before surgery. The tumors were classified, according to Mx characteristics, in 5 classes (Broberg, 1983). ER and PgR contents (cut-off for positivity: 10 fmol/mg prot cyt) were analyzed in all patients by means of DCC method. The percentage of ER+ cases was significantly higher in class I than in all other Mx classes (85% vs 57%; p = 0.02), whereas it was lowest in class IV (51% vs 70%; p = 0.03). The percentage of PgR+ cases was significantly different only in class I with respect to class IV (70% vs 41%; p = 0.002). As for ER and PgR mean tumor content, no statistically significant difference was observed between the 5 classes. When the 2 receptors were simultaneously considered the percentage of ER+ PgR+ cases was higher in class I than in all the extant classes (p = 0.01), and the percentage of ER- PgR- was higher in class IV than in the extant ones (p = 0.02). In selected subgroups of patients, Mx classification of breast cancer can help the physician predict the hormone receptor tumor status with sufficient reliability.