Background. To our knowledge, the hormone receptor
status of noncontiguous ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) occurring
concurrently in ER/PgR-negative invasive cancer has not been studied.
The current study was undertaken to investigate the ER/PgR receptor
status of DCIS of the breast in patients with ER/PgR-negative invasive
breast cancer. Methods. We reviewed the
immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for ER and PgR of 187 consecutive
cases of ER/PgR-negative invasive breast cancers, collected from 1995
to 2002. To meet the criteria for the study, we evaluated ER/PgR
expression of DCIS cancer outside of the invasive breast cancer. Results. A total of 37 cases of
DCIS meeting the above criteria were identified. Of these, 16 cases
(43.2%) showed positive staining for ER, PgR, or both.
Conclusions. In our study of ER/PgR-negative
invasive breast cancer we found that in 8% of cases noncontiguous
ER/PR-positive DCIS was present. In light of this finding, it may be
important for pathologists to evaluate the ER/PgR status of DCIS
occurring in the presence of ER/PgR-negative invasive cancer, as this
subgroup could be considered for chemoprevention.