[The importance of hormone receptor analysis for diagnosis and therapy of gynecologic malignancies].

Determination of the tissue concentration of hormone receptors in gynaecological malignancies has achieved a great importance over the past few years. In carcinoma of the breast this not only constitutes an excellent prognostic parameter, receptor-positive cases usually having a much better prognosis, but also reliably predicts the response to endocrine treatment: the higher the receptor concentration, the higher the remission incidence under hormonal treatment. With regard to the response to chemotherapeutic treatment the predictive value of receptor determinations is still a matter of dispute. In both carcinoma of the breast and carcinoma of the endometrium there is a good correlation between the degree of differentiation and the concentration of receptors. Since the response to treatment with progestational agents depends on the concentration of progesterone receptors, induction of this receptor by means of antioestrogenic medication can be used therapeutically. In ovarian carcinoma a similar distribution of hormone receptors is found. Whether receptor concentration in ovarian carcinoma is related to prognosis and response to endocrine treatment is still under investigation. It can be assumed that determination of hormone receptor concentrations will become an integral part of the management of gynaecological malignancies.