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.