Association of Tumour Grade and Sex Steroid Receptor as a Prognostic Index in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer accounts for the largest number of deaths amongst the female population worldwide. It is now considered as a systemic disease even if diagnosed at an initial stage, as the clinical behaviour cannot be accurately predicted. Due to this reason, it is subjected to new dimensions of research every day. The aggressiveness of the cancer is directly proportional to the histopathological grade at the time of diagnosis. This is true with reference to the clinical stage at the time of presentation, the probability to metastasize and potential to recur. The idea of steroids receptor expression by the tumour is not new, and to evaluate their status prior to the induction of hormone therapy is a must.

The sex steroids, which are produced intratumorally, include estrogen, progesterone, and androgens. They act on their specific receptors present on the cell surface, within the cytoplasm and at the nuclear membrane. It is a measurement of these receptors that decide the potential of an individual to respond to different types of hormones like estrogen receptor blockers and aromatase inhibitors. Do the histological grade of tumour bears some relation with the status of these receptors and can investigators predict and rely just on the cellular behaviour of tumour for the purpose of prognosis is still under investigation. This study is designed to see the relationship between the histopathological grade of the tumour with the expression of sex steroid receptors. It will also try to evaluate whether these receptors bear some prognostic value or not.