Oestrogen and
Progesterone Receptors (ER/PR)
Key facts
- Presence of ER/PR in breast tumour cells is considered a good
prognostic feature
- ER/PR-positive tumours generally respond better to
hormone therapies
The value
of morphological assessment can be enhanced by the use of a range
of tissue based assays performed in our Reference Laboratory. These
provide further information to aid in assessing prognosis, and
perhaps more importantly in assessing adjuvant treatment
suitability. One such test, recommended by NICE guidance, and which
we are already providing to the NHS and private healthcare sectors,
is the ER/PR test.
Oestrogen and progesterone receptor status is
determined immunohistochemically. While providing some prognostic
information, these paired tests are also used routinely in a
treatment decision role, to determine suitability for hormone
therapies such as Tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors. Source
BioScience Healthcare utilises our own in-house, standardised and
validated tests, as well as commercially available assays for both
Oestrogen and Progesterone receptor, providing a comprehensive and
analytically robust service to the clinician.
Evaluation
Immunostaining for ER and PR is evaluated visually by
pathologists and laboratory scientists, and the result presented in
the form requested by the client, as percentage positive cells,
H-score or Allred Quickscore.
The H-score is a semi-quantitative system for assessing
the intensity and distribution of positive staining with a
range between 0 and 300. A score of 300 is achieved when 100%
of the tumour cells show the highest level of intensity (scored as
0-3). A score above 10 is considered positive. A negative result
for ER/PR is considered a poor prognostic sign, while a positive is
an indicator for tamoxifen or other hormonal therapies.
The Quick score is a similar system with
a range between 0 and 8. Scores of over 2 are considered
positive.
An example of a breast carcinoma showing strong nuclear
expression of the oestrogen receptor (ER)
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