Expression and association of reproductive hormones and receptors in postmenopausal patients with breast cancer

Background: Reproductive hormones and receptors play a crucial role in the development and progression of breast cancer. Materials and Methods: In the present study, the authors determined expression and association of reproductive hormones and receptors in 352 postmenopausal (PMP) patients with breast cancer. Results: The authors found that serum level of luteinizing hormone (LH) declined as PMP years progressed in this patient cohort. The median value of LH was significantly higher in patients within five years of PMP (23 mIU/ml) than patients with PMP beyond five years (18.32 mIU/ml, p < 0.0001). The numbers of strong expression of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) were significantly higher in patients within five years of PMP (103 and 93 cases, respectively) than patients with PMP beyond five years (61 and 46 cases, p = 0.019 and p = 0.0005, respectively). While most patients either lacked (97.1%) or coexpressed (84.3%) both ER and PR, a substantial number of patients expressed either ER or PR alone. Expression of ER and PR was negatively associated with HER2 expression in PMP patients with breast cancer. The present authors observed that increased expression levels of ER and PR were associated with a decline of serum levels of LH or follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Conclusion: These results indicated that PMP-mediated decrease in LH and FSH serum level was associated with increased expression level of ER and PR, as well as a decreased expression level of HER2 in patients with breast cancer.

Breast cancer; Postmenopause; Reproductive hormones; Estrogen receptor; Progesterone receptor; HER2 receptor.

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