Mf. Pichon et al., PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF STEROID-RECEPTORS AFTER LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP OF 2257 OPERABLE BREAST CANCERS, British Journal of Cancer, 73(12), 1996, pp. 1545-1551
The prognostic value of oestrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone recep
tor (PR) was estimated through a multicentric study of 2257 operable b
reast cancer patients followed up for a median of 8.5 years. None of t
he patients had received adjuvant therapy. The series included 33.3% s
tage I patients, 57.1% stage II, 5.7% stage IIIa and 2.4% stage IIIb.
At the end point of the study 589 metastases and 537 deaths from cance
r were recorded. Receptor measurements were performed by radioligand a
ssay according to a uniform protocol. A total of 68.8% of the rumours
were ER positive and 54.0% PR positive (greater than or equal to 10 fm
ol mg(-1) cytosol protein). In univariate analysis, ER and PR status (
positive/negative) were of prognostic value (P<0.001) for the disease
free interval (DFI), the metastases-free interval (MFI) and the overal
l survival (OS). The OS of the patients after a first metastasis was a
lso significantly different between ER-positive and -negative tumours
(P<0.001). In multivariate analysis (Cox proportional hazard model, 16
65 patients), only the ER status showed a significant difference (P<0.
01) between positive and negative groups regarding the DFI, MFI and OS
. By using Cox nonproportional, time-dependent models, we show that th
e predictive value of ER status of the primary tumour decreases by app
roximately 20% per year, losing its significance after 8 years of foll
ow-up. Overall, when compared with TNM and histological grading, ER an
d PR status have a low prognostic value, their major interest remainin
g solely in the domain of therapeutic decision.