Predictive power of progesterone receptor status in early breast carcinoma

Progesterone receptor status (PgR) and oestrogen receptor status (ER) were examined in 332 women with stage I-II breast carcinoma treated at a single centre either by simple mastectomy with (n = 283) or without (n = 6) axillary clearance, or by segmental mastectomy with (n = 18) or without (n = 25) axillary clearance and radiotherapy; median follow-up time was 40 (range 10-60) months. Neither the concentration nor the presence of PgR related to either disease-free interval or survival. However both the presence and the concentration of ER were found to be associated with a longer disease-free interval amongst patients with stage II tumours (P less than 0.01). From this study it appears that progesterone receptor status does not predict outcome in early breast carcinoma.