Regional lymph node reactions related to hormone receptor status in female breast carcinoma

A series of 211 female breast carcinomas was studied with special reference to the relationships between estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptor status and the reactions of the axillary lymph nodes as manifestations of tumor-host reactivity. Carcinomas were classified according to their nuclear grade (NG), and the following nodal reactions were recorded: extent of cancer metastasis, paracortical activity (PCA), follicular hyperplasia (LFH), sinus histiocytosis (SH), and degenerative sinus histiocytosis (DSH). NG did not directly correlate with ER- or PR-positivity, albeit the highest frequency of both was found in well differentiated carcinomas. ER- and less significantly PR-values were higher in post- than in premenopausal females. ER- and PR-positivity as well as the absolute receptor values were lowest in the cases with extensive (Grade 4) nodal metastases, but did not show a direct relationship to the other grades (0 to 3). PCA did not show any relation to the receptor status, whereas LFH seemed to bear an inverse relationship with ER- (but not PR-) positivity. SH seemed to be associated with higher frequency of ER-positivity than did DSH-nodes, the differences being slight, however. It is concluded that hormone receptor assays connected with the morphological assessment of tumor-host reactivity provide some benefit in grouping the breast cancer patients according to the different expectancy of the outcome of their disease.