Correlation of steroid receptors with histopathologic characteristics in breast carcinoma

Estrogen and progesterone receptors were correlated to histologic variables in 288 breast cancer patients from western India. The progesterone receptors (PR) were significantly elevated as compared to estrogen receptors (ER) amongst primary pre- and peri-menopausal breast carcinomas. ER positivity was correlated significantly to nuclear grade. Lymphatic invasion and vascular permeation were not found to be linked to ER, while PR positivity could be linked to lymphatic invasion and inversely to vascular permeation. Higher frequency of ER positivity was observed in lobular carcinomas. PR concentrations of the tumor had better correlations with histologic variables as compared to ER.