Hormone Receptor Status in Breast Cancer Patients and Its Association with Age and Histopathological Grade in a Tertiary Care Setting
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51985/Keywords:
Breast Neoplasms, Receptors, Progesterone, Immunohistochemistry, Receptors, Estrogen, PrognosisAbstract
Objective: Hormone receptor testing plays a central role in the classification and treatment planning of breast cancer. This study aims to assess the frequency of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expression in breast carcinoma and examine their association with age and histopathological grade in a tertiary care setting.
Study design and setting: This study design is cross-sectional, and it took place at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi.
Methodology:. A total of 175 breast carcinoma cases diagnosed at a tertiary care center were reviewed. Information regarding patient age, tumor characteristics (type, size, lymph node status, metastasis, histological grade), and ER/PR expression was recorded. Associations between receptor status and clinicopathological parameters were examined using the chi-square test.
Results: The majority of patients (59.4%) were aged 51–80 years. Most tumors were of ductal type (55.4%) and hormone receptor–negative, with 64.6% ER-negative and 70.3% PR-negative. ER and PR positivity were significantly higher in older patients (p = 0.02 and p = 0.04, respectively). However, no significant association was found between histopathological grade and either ER or PR status.
Conclusion: Hormone receptor negativity was prevalent, especially in younger women: ER and PR expression increased with age and showed no association with tumor grade. These findings support the routine use of hormone receptor testing for informed treatment decisions.
References
1. Xiong X, Zheng LW, Ding Y, Chen YF, Cai YW, Wang LP,
Huang L, Liu CC, Shao ZM, Yu KD. Breast cancer:
pathogenesis and treatments. Signal Transduct Target Ther.
2025: 10(1):49. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-024-02108-
42. Laiq T, et al. Prediction of axillary lymph node metastasis in
breast cancer patients based on ultrasonographicclinicopathologic features. Pak J Med Sci. 2024: 41(1):96–100.
https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.41.1.10384
3. Siddiqui R, Mehmood MH, Khan NA. An overview of breast
cancer in Pakistan. Discov Med. 2024: 1:82. https://doi.org
/10.1007/s44337-024-00089-5
4. Schlefman J, Brenin C, Millard T, Dillon P. Estrogen receptor
positive breast cancer: contemporary nuances to sequencing
therapy. Med Oncol. 2023: 41(1):19. https://doi.org/10.1007/
s12032-023-02255-8
5. Shen L, Huang H, Li J, Chen W, Yao Y, Hu J, Zhou J, Huang
F, Ni C. Exploration of prognosis and immunometabolism
landscapes in ER+ breast cancer based on a novel lipid
metabolism-related signature. Front Immunol. 2023:
14:1199465. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1199465
6. Ayadi L, Khabir A, Amouri H, Karray S, Dammak A, Guermazi
M, et al. Correlation of HER-2 over-expression with
clinicopathological parameters in Tunisian breast carcinoma.
World J Surg Oncol. 2008: 6:112. https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-
7819-6-112
7. Keyhanian S, Jannat Alipoor Z, Lohrasbi E, Fotoukian Z,
Saravi M. Evaluation of biologic markers frequency and their
correlation with some determinant prognostic factors in women
with breast cancer referred to oncology clinic of Imam Sajjad
Hospital of Ramsar during 2002–2012. J Ilam Univ Med Sci.
2015: 22(7):115–128.
8. Moghni M, Mokhtariyan K. Correlations of estrogen or
progesterone receptors with grade of invasive ductal
carcinomas of the breast in women referred to pathology
center in Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province Iran. J Shahrekord
Univ Med Sci. 2009: 11(3):40–45.
9. Shahidsales S, Hosseini S, Ahmadi-Simab S, Ghavam-Nasiri
M. The importance of prognostic factors (ER, PR, P53) in
breast cancer and their relationship with stage of disease. Med
J Mashhad Univ Med Sci. 2014: 57(2):457–463.
10. Mondal S, Preetam S, Deshwal RK, Thapliyal S, Rustagi S,
Alghamdi S, et al. Advances in prognostic and predictive
biomarkers for breast cancer: Integrating multigene assays,
hormone receptors, and emerging circulating biomarkers.
Clin Chim Acta. 2026: 578:120513. https://doi.org/10.1016
/j.cca.2025.120513
11. Sohail SK, Sarfraz R, Imran M, Kamran M, Qamar S. Estrogen
and progesterone receptor expression in breast carcinoma and
its association with clinicopathological variables among the
Pakistani population. Cureus. 2020: 12(8):e9751.
https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.9751
12. Kamil M, Khalid I, Hashim H, Biswas M, Kaur G, Islam R.
Association of carcinoma breast: grade and estrogen
progesterone receptor expression. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak.
2010: 20(4):250–254.
13. Varma N, Suthar N, Parikh M, Amar R. Expression of estrogen,
progesterone, and human epidermal growth factor receptors
in breast cancer in GMERS Medical College and Hospital
Gandhinagar, India. J Med Life Sci. 2024: 8:294–306.
https://doi.org/10.21608/jmals.2024.372332
14. Santosh BT, Behera B, Bal AK, Patro MK, Mishra DP. Role
of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2/neu
expression in breast carcinoma subtyping. Nat J Lab Med.
2021: 10(1):2452. https://doi.org/10.7860/NJLM/2021
/45580:2452
15. Sharma S, Giresha AS, Dixit S. Relevance of estrogen and
progesterone receptors in determining breast cancer prognosis.
Int J Cancer Biol Study. 2023: 23(2):333–34216. Zhao X, Yang X, Fu L, Yu K. Associations of estrogen receptor,
progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor-
2 and Ki-67 with ultrasound signs and prognosis of breast
cancer patients. Cancer Manag Res. 2021: 13:4579–4586.
https://doi.org/10.2147/CMAR.S276422
17. Gamrani S, Boukansa S, Benbrahim Z, Mellas N, Fdili Alaoui
F, Melhouf MA, et al. The prognosis and predictive value of
estrogen negative/progesterone positive (ER-/PR+) phenotype:
Experience of 1159 primary breast cancer from a single
institute. Breast J. 2022: 28(1):9238804. https://doi.org/10.1155
/2022/9238804
18. Delvallée J, Etienne C, Arbion F, Vildé A, Body G, Ouldamer
L. Negative estrogen receptors and positive progesterone
receptors breast cancers. J Gynecol Obstet Hum Reprod.
2021: 50(2):101928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jogoh.2020.
101928
19. Jiang N, Zhang G, Ma H, Li Y, Li D, Pan L, Liu Y, Liu L,
Han H, Li X, Wang X. Ultrasound features of noncircumscribed margin associates with favorable prognosis in
breast cancer patients in China: a retrospective cohort study.
Eur J Gynaecol Oncol. 2025: 46(6). https://doi.org/10.22514
/ejgo.2025.083
20. Chung C, Yeung VT, Wong KC. Prognostic and predictive
biomarkers with therapeutic targets in breast cancer: A 2022
update on current developments, evidence, and
recommendations. J Oncol Pharm Pract. 2023: 29(6):
1343–1360. https://doi.org/10.1177/10781552221119797
21. Gennari A, André F, Barrios CH, Cortes J, de Azambuja E,
DeMichele A, Dent R, Fenlon D, Gligorov J, Hurvitz SA, Im
SA. ESMO Clinical Practice Guideline for the diagnosis,
staging and treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer.
Ann Oncol. 2021: 32(12):1475–1495. https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.annonc.2021.09.019
22. Singh R, Gupta S, Pawar SB, Pawar RS, Gandham SV,
Prabhudesai S. Evaluation of ER, PR and HER-2 receptor
expression in breast cancer patients presenting to a semiurban cancer centre in Western India. J Can Res Ther. 2014:
10:26–28. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1482.131348
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Journal of Bahria University Medical & Dental College is an open access journal and is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. which permits unrestricted non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0