Histological differentiation in human breast cancer is related to steroid receptors and stromal elastosis

In 503 cases of human breast cancer, the stroma reaction of elastosis was investigated with respect to histological differentiation, pathological and biochemical prognostic factors, and steroid receptor (SR) content. Unlike perivascular elastosis, gland-related (ductal + interstitial) elastosis was not related to age, menopausal status, and number of pregnancies of each patient, and could thus be considered a histological feature characteristic of mammary cells. Elastosis was encountered most frequently in histologically differentiated lesions and in lesions of histoprognostic grades I and II (low degree of malignancy). Elastosis-positive lesions thus seem to constitute a good prognosis. Elastosis was related to the presence of estrogen and progestin receptors (ER and PR), and in menopausal patients it was observed mostly when both ER and PR were present concurrently, i.e., under conditions reflecting the hormone-dependence of neoplastic cells better than the presence of ER alone. Taken together, these results suggest that the presence of hormone-dependent cells in breast carcinomas can be demonstrated by both biochemical and morphological features. Since each of these factors has its own prognostic value, prognosis could probably be by the assessed more accurately if all these parameters were examined at the same time.