LONG-TERM RELAPSES IN BREAST-CANCER PATIENTS (ESTROGEN-RECEPTOR STATUS)

To investigate the relation between estrogen receptor (ER) status and timing of relapse, we retrospectively studied two groups of patients ( 200 cases in each group) who underwent radical mastectomy and develope d an early relapse (within 3 years of the surgery) or a longterm relap se (more than 8 years after surgery). One-hundred and eighty-two (91%) patients who developed a long-term relapse were ER-positive (ER+), wh ereas only 64% of patients who developed an early relapse were ER+ (P< 0.001), supporting the hypothesis that a long-term relapse is more fre quently associated with an ER+ tumor. A review of the literature, whic h indicated that a long-term relapse arises more frequently in patient s in whom a partial hormone control is maintained, seems to support th is finding, albeit the presence of 18 ER-negative (ER-) cases in our s tudy. However, this apparent contradictory observation could be explai ned by the fact that 12 of our patients were in premenopause and that ER-status could have been false ER- results due to the binding of endo genous estradiol to ER.