Asian Pacifc Journal of Cancer Prevention, Vol 13, 2012 5047 DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7314/APJCP.2012.13.10.5047 ER and PR Status in Breast Cancer in Relation to Age, Histological Grade, Tumour Size and Lymph Node Status Asian Pacifc J Cancer Prev, 13 (10), 5047-5052 Introduction Globally carcinoma breast is the most common malignancy and the leading cause of cancer death in women, with more than 1,00,000 cases occurring worldwide annually (Parkin et al., 2001). Worldwide, breast cancer comprises 10.4% (World Cancer Report, 2003) of all cancer incidence among women, making it the most common type of non-skin cancer in women and the ffth most common cause of cancer death (World Cancer Report, 2003). In 2004, breast cancer caused 519,000 deaths worldwide (7% of cancer deaths; almost 1% of all deaths) (Fact Sheet No. 297: 5). In Kashmir, situation seems worse. It accounted for 15.06% (348 of 2297 cases) of total cancer registrations in females of all ages at Regional Cancer Center of our hospital in last two years. Breast cancer is a biologically heterogeneous disease 1 Pathologyskims, 2 Khalida Zia Medical College, 3 GMC, 4 SKIMS, 5 SKIMS Medical College, Srinagar Kashmir, India *For correspondence: drgnsof@gmail.com Abstract Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy of women in Kashmir. This study was conducted with the objective of assessing hormone receptor positivity and its correlation with age at diagnosis, tumor size, histological grade and lymph node metastasis. Materials and Methods: 132 newly diagnosed cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed at the Department of Pathology, SKIMS, Srinagar, J&K, were included after excluding biopsies, in-situ lesions and recurrence cases. Results: Mean age of the patients was 48.2 years, 59.1% being ≤50 years of age. Mean duration of symptoms was 6.32 months. Most lesions (65.1%) were 2-5 cm and 16.7% were ≥5.0 cm in greatest dimension. The predominant (80.3%) morphology was IDC-NOS. The majority of the cases presented as grade II (52.1%) lesions and lymph node involvement was present in 65.2%. ER and PR were positive in 66.3% and 63.4% cases, respectively, increasing with rising age. High grade lesions and larger size tumors were more likely to be ER and PR negative. No correlation was found between ER/PR status and lymph node metastasis. Conclusions: ER and PR expression in breast cancers in the current study was found to be higher than studies done in India/Asia but lower than studies conducted in the West, even on Indian/Asian immigrants. Markedly lower receptor expression in Indian/Asian studies is likely due to preanalytic variables, thresholds for positivity, and interpretation criteria. American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists Guideline Recommendations for Immunohistochemical Testing of Estrogen and Progesterone Receptors in Breast Cancer are strongly advocated for standardization of receptor evaluation and for clinical management of breast cancer patients to provide best therapeutic options. Keywords: Breast cancer - estrogen receptor - progestrone receptor - preanalytic variables RESEARCH ARTICLE Estrogen Receptor and Progesterone Receptor Status in Breast Cancer in Relation to Age, Histological Grade, Size of Lesion and Lymph Node Involvement Gulam Nabi Sof 1 *, Junaid Nabi Sof 2 , Raja Nadeem 3 , Rayees Yousuf Shiekh 4 , Faroze Ahmad Khan 4 , Abid Ahmad Sof 4 , Hillal Ahmad Bhat 4 , Rayees Ahmad Bhat 5 and patients with the same diagnostic and clinical prognostic profles can have markedly different clinical outcomes. Molecular profling has provided biological evidence for heterogeneity of breast cancer through the identifcation of intrinsic subtypes. Analysis of gene expression data suggest that breast cancers can be divided into molecular subtypes which have distinct clinical features, with markedly differing prognosis and clinical outcomes (Perou et al., 2000; Sorlie et al., 2001; 2003; Sotiriou et al., 2003; Nielsen et al., 2004). A crucial development in the evaluation of breast carcinoma has been the realization that the presence of estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER and PR) in the tumour tissue correlates well with response to hormone therapy and chemotherapy (Hawkins et al., 1980; Barnes et al., 2001).Ovarian steroids are necessary for normal breast development. An imbalance precipitates abnormal processes like epithelial hyperplasia, intraductal and