Molecular Genetics of Steroid Hormone Receptors

Interest in steroid hormone receptors in breast cancer stems from both theoretical and practical considerations. The malignant transformation and subsequent growth of breast cancer cells are hormonally regulated, and elucidation of the mechanisms of these processes requires an understanding of the structure and function of hormonal receptors. Moreover, receptor determination in tumour biopsies has now been used for many years as a means of predicting response to hormonal therapy and as prognostic factors in early breast cancer. Recent cloning of most of these receptors has allowed researchers to obtain a considerable wealth of new information and has provided new tools with which further questions become amenable to experimental analysis (reviews in [1–3]).