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Risk factors and hormone-receptor status: epidemiology, risk-prediction models and treatment implications for breast cancer

Nature Clinical Practice Oncology volume 4, pages 415–423 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

It is increasingly being recognized that breast cancer does not represent a single homogeneous disease; instead, the hormone-receptor status defines important clinical and etiologic differences. We review the epidemiologic data on differences in risk-factor associations by hormone-receptor status and highlight major trends in the literature. We discuss the development and evaluation of breast cancer risk models, with a focus on the Rosner and Colditz model, which can separately estimate the risk of hormone-receptor-positive and hormone-receptor-negative breast cancers. We also discuss the clinical implications of accounting for hormone-receptor status in breast cancer risk-prediction models.

Key Points

  • Many breast cancer risk factors, including BMI after menopause and reproductive risk factors, show stronger associations with hormone-receptor-positive tumors than with hormone-receptor-negative tumors

  • Failure to account for differences in risk-factor associations by hormone-receptor status can lead to inaccurate estimates of the effect of a risk factor or intervention

  • The recognition of differences in risk-factor associations by hormone-receptor status can improve the accuracy of breast cancer risk-prediction models

  • The use of breast cancer risk-prediction models that account for hormone-receptor status can potentially improve the targeting of breast cancer prevention interventions

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. WY Chen is an Attending Physician at the Department of Medical Oncology, and Associate Physician at the Department of Medicine, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.,

    Wendy Y Chen

  2. GA Colditz is the Neiss–Gain Professor in Medicine and Associate Director of Prevention and Control at the Alvin J Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, WA, USA.,

    Graham A Colditz

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  1. Wendy Y Chen
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  2. Graham A Colditz
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Correspondence to Wendy Y Chen.

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Chen, W., Colditz, G. Risk factors and hormone-receptor status: epidemiology, risk-prediction models and treatment implications for breast cancer. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 4, 415–423 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncponc0851

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncponc0851

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