Analysis of hormone receptors in the treatment of breast neoplasms in women
Delarue, J.C.; Bohuon, C.
Annales de Biologie Clinique 38(5): 293-296
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-3898 PMID: 7469145 Document Number: 159660
Since only about 1/3 of breast cancers respond to hormonotherapy, it seems important to have available the means of selecting those tumors susceptible of responding to this type of treatment. It has been ascertained that the presence of hormone receptors in cancerous cells is a necessary condition for successful hormone therapy, and that there must be a quantitative relationship between receptors concentration and successful therapy. This relationship has in fact been proven by several studies, and it appears that when therapy is 80% successful the concentration of receptors is very high. It has also been shown that the presence of receptors in primitive tumors constitutes a factor for favorable prognosis, independently of other factors. This will allow the selection of high risk patients to be administered hormonotherapy without delay. It is hoped that better techniques will be discovered to permit a better measurement of hormone receptor dosage.