ASSOCIATION BETWEEN STEROID-HORMONE RECEPTORS AND RESPONSE RATE TO CYTOTOXIC CHEMOTHERAPY IN METASTATIC BREAST-CANCER

Abstract

The influence of steroid hormone receptors on response rate to cytotoxic chemotherapy in 70 patients with metastatic breast cancer was determined in a retrospective study. It was previously reported that 34 of 45 patients with tumors containing low or absent estrogen-receptor values had objective responses to chemotherapy while 3 of 25 patients with positive estrogen-receptor tumors responded. In the present study, 22 of 34 patients with low or absent progesterone-receptor tumors had an objective response to cytotoxic chemotherapy, while none of 8 patients with a positive progesterone-receptor tumor responded (P < 0.01). Patients having tumors with a negative estrogen receptor and a negative progesterone receptor had a response rate of 88% (21 of 24 patients). There were 3 patients whose tumors were estrogen-receptor negative but progesterone-receptor positive; none had a response to chemotherapy. Chemotherapy response was not associated with the presence or absence of either androgen or glucocorticoid receptor. Progesterone-receptor values, in addition to estrogen-receptor status, may prove to be important correlates of response to cytotoxic chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer. Androgen- and glucocorticoid-receptor analyses were not helpful in predicting response to chemotherapy.