Duffy M J
Department of Nuclear Medicine, St Vincent's University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci. 2006;43(4):325-47. doi: 10.1080/10408360600739218.
The estrogen receptor (ER) exists in two forms known as ERalpha and ERbeta. Currently, a clinical role has only been established for ERalpha. The primary use of ERalpha in breast cancer is for predicting likely response to hormone treatment. Patients with breast cancers expressing ERalpha are approximately seven to eight times more likely to benefit from endocrine therapy than ERalpha-negative patients. For the initial three to five years after primary diagnosis, ERalpha-positive patients generally have a better outcome than ERalpha-negative patients. Overall, however, the prognostic value of ERalpha is relatively weak and only of limited value in the clinically important subgroup of patients with lymph node-negative disease. Further work is required to establish if ERbeta has a clinical role in breast cancer.
雌激素受体（ER）以两种形式存在，即ERα和ERβ。目前，仅确定了ERα的临床作用。ERα在乳腺癌中的主要用途是预测对激素治疗的可能反应。与ERα阴性患者相比，表达ERα的乳腺癌患者从内分泌治疗中获益的可能性大约高7至8倍。在初次诊断后的最初三至五年内，ERα阳性患者的总体预后通常比ERα阴性患者更好。然而，总体而言，ERα的预后价值相对较弱，在淋巴结阴性疾病这一临床重要亚组患者中价值有限。需要进一步开展研究以确定ERβ在乳腺癌中是否具有临床作用。
