Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Estrogen Receptors: Role in Breast Cancer

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 43; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10408360600739218

1549-781X

Michael J. Duffy,

HER2/EGFR in Cancer Research

The estrogen receptor (ER) exists in two forms known as ERα and ERβ. Currently, a clinical role has only been established for ERα. The primary use of ERα in breast cancer is for predicting likely response to hormone treatment. Patients with breast cancers expressing ERα are approximately seven to eight times more likely to benefit from endocrine therapy than ERα-negative patients. For the initial three to five years after primary diagnosis, ERα-positive patients generally have a better outcome than ERα-negative patients. Overall, however, the prognostic value of ERα is relatively weak and only of limited value in the clinically important subgroup of patients with lymph node-negative disease. Further work is required to establish if ERβ has a clinical role in breast cancer.