ABSTRACT
As one of the most common malignancies in women, the incidence of breast cancer in China is only second to that of carcinoma of the uterine cervix. With the development of methods of hormone receptor assay and their clinical application, most practicing oncologists have classified breast cancers into two categories. They are the steroid hormone receptor (HR) positive and the steroid hormone receptor-negative; and the hormone receptor status of the tumor is regarded as an important parameter in assessment of the patient's condition, the planning of treatment protocol, and the prediction of response to endocrine therapy. The cancer cells that fluoresced as intensely as or more than the benign ductal epithelial cells were considered sex steroid receptor positive. The HR-rich cancers, as defined by our criteria, have a higher rate of response to endocrine therapy than the HR-poor tumors, and an HR-rich tumor generally indicates a longer survival rate for the patient.
