Prognostic significance of the steroid receptor content in primary breast cancer.

Recurrence and survival rates were studied in 222 patients with primary breast cancer with particular reference to relations with the estrogen and progesterone receptor content of the primary tumor, involvement of axillary lymph nodes and menopausal status. The median observation time for these 222 women was 46 months, the longest being 88 months and the shortest for recurrence-free survivors, being 42 months. Within the first 4 years after primary surgery, recurrences occurred more rarely and later in patients with receptor-positive cancers. After 70 and 50 months, respectively, there was no longer any difference between estrogen receptor- and progesterone receptor-positive and receptor-negative cases. The overall survival curve plotted in accordance with Kaplan and Meier [5] was more favourable for patients with estrogen receptor-positive carcinoma than for those with estrogen receptor-negative tumors, even after 6.5 years.