Estrogen and progesterone receptor status in breast cancer: a cross-sectional study of 450 women in Kerala, South India

BACKGROUND: Hormone receptor status is an important prognostic and therapeutic tool in breast cancer. The objectives of our study were to create a database of breast cancer patients in Central Kerala between January 2010 and December 2012 and analyze the proportions of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor positivity in premenopausal and postmenopausal women with breast cancer. METHODS: Estrogen and progesterone receptor status were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The median age at diagnosis was 50 years while the mean age was 51.92 (SD = 11.78). 56.1% of premenopausal and 47.4% of postmenopausal patients were found to be ER positive, while PR positivity was 47.7% and 34.7% respectively in the premenopausal and postmenopausal age groups. CONCLUSIONS: The proportions of ER and PRnegative tumors were found to be lower than reported in earlier studies on Indian populations. Contrary to expectations, the proportions of ER and PRpositivity were found to be higher in the premenopausal age group.