Multiple steroid receptors in human breast cancer. III. Relationships between steroid receptors and the state of differentiation and the activity of carcinomas throughout the pathologic features.

Histopathologic features (tumor cell density, histological type, and histoprognostic grade) were analyzed in 314 breast cancers investigated for estrogen (E) and progestin (P) receptors (R). The presence of PR is associated with the presence of ER. A relationship was found between the acinoductal differentiation of the lesions and the presence of SR: the more differentiated the carcinoma, the higher the frequency of ER. HPG III carcinomas have the lowest frequency of positive ER and HPG I tumors the opposite: the likelihood of the presence of SRs is inversely correlated with HPG. No statistically significant relationship existed between tumor cell density (TCD) and the presence of ER or ER content. Similar findings were observed for the stromal reaction. The results are discussed with respect to the biological significance of SR and histopathologic features: SR presence could be correlated with (1) a differentiated state of the tumors and (2) a slow rate of cellular replication.