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Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer: What It Is and How It’s Treated
In this video, hematologist and oncologist Amy Tiersten, MD, explains how receptor status relates to breast cancer and what treatments are used for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.
Written by Lauren Smith, MA | Reviewed by Alexandra Schwarz, MD
Updated on March 28, 2024Breast cancers can be categorized in a number of ways, one of which being receptor status. This refers to certain proteins on the surface of cells that “receive” things (such as hormones) to fuel the growth of the cancer.
“Think of [receptors] as little baseball mitts that sit on the surface of the cell,” says Amy Tiersten, MD, hematologist and oncologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. There are three types of receptors that could potentially be on a breast cancer cell: estrogen, progesterone, and HER2/neu.
Additional Medical Contributors
- Amy Tiersten, MDAmy Tiersten, MD, is a Professor of Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She sees patients at the Dubin Breast Center.
References
American Cancer Society. (2022). Breast cancer HER2 status.
American Cancer Society. (2021). Breast cancer hormone receptor status.
View All References (1)
Susan G. Komen. (2024). CDK4/6 inhibitors for treatment of metastatic breast cancer.
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