That Er+/Pr+ Thing

So I haven always known (well since my diagnosis - before my diagnosis what I knew about breast cancer wouldn't fill a post-it) that have a hormone receptor positive breast cancer had a lot of impact on your treatment protocol. But I didn't know that much about how that worked.Now I am learning more. In the past, estrogen was considered to be the indicator of breast cancer diagnosis. When estrogen was detector at a biopsy, it was considered an indicator of breast cancer. Now it has been determined that progesterone has a big impact as well."Previous studies have demonstrated that estrogen receptors react to the primary female sex hormone, estradiol, by activating genes that nudge cancer cells into growing and replicating. The cells divide faster and live longer, which results in a more advanced state, Greene explained.The study concluded that when progesterone or progestin is added, an entirely new set of binding sites opens up, allowing the estrogen receptor to work in conjunction with progesterone receptors. The process stops cell reproduction and survival and "our data further suggests that, despite the historical bias toward the effects of estrogen on the estrogen receptor," Greene said. "It’s the progesterone receptor that dominantly controls estrogen activity when both receptors are present and activated.""Well whoop de doo. This sounds all kinds of complicated. But I think its important."During the study, Greene and his colleague Haral Singhal inhibited the activity ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: breast cancer breast cancer treatment hormone receptor status Source Type: blogs