Evaluation of the estrogen and progestron recptors in female breast cancer in respect to age, grade and stage

treatment that demand the physicians and patients. It is the commonest type of malignancy among Iraqi women. Hormone receptors study in breast cancer is mandatory because it determine the prognosis and the course of treatment and has a wide acceptance in the management of breast cancer. this study aimed to evaluate the relation of estrogen and progesterone receptors positive (+ve) or negative (–ve) in respect to the age, grade and stage. A sixty seven female patients diagnosed as a breast cancer were undergone a surgery in term of mastectomy and axillary dissection and specimens were sent to a histopathology and receptor detection studies. All specimens were processed by same procedure of tissue preparations which include formalin fixation, paraffin embedded, receptor detection methods (Immuno-histochemistry and enzyme immuno assay studies). Most of affected cases in this study are equal or less than 47 years (37 cases representing 55.22%. Mean age group in this study was 47 year. The tumor mainly in Grade II (42 cases 62.68%) and mainly in stage IIA and IIIA (20 cases 29.86% for each one). Estrogen (ER) receptor expression represents higher positivity (49 cases 73.13%), while for progesterone (PR) receptor expression (45 cases 67.16%) representing more than two third of cases. The ER, PR expression in relation to the age was statistically significant (P value is 0.01). While, the ER and PR receptor expression in relation to the grade and stage was not significant (P values are 0.8, 0.5 respectively). In conclusion, breast cancer is a disease of early age group with moderately advanced stage and grade and about two thirds of patients have a positive estrogen and progesterone receptor expression which was more in older than in younger patients.