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Who gets hormone therapy?
Source: Hormone Therapy for Breast Cancer, National Cancer Institute.
Source updated: December 2, 2025 · Captured 2026-09-09.
Selected source text with whitespace normalised. This Triangle page is not an NCI PDQ summary. Independent clinical review is pending.
NCI patient treatment article for this disease Exact source article; not a clinically reviewed indication or current-standard recommendation.
Context: Hormone Therapy for Breast Cancer
Who gets hormone therapy?
You may receive hormone therapy if the cells in your breast cancer contain proteins called hormone receptors. There are two kinds of hormone receptors: estrogen receptors, or ERs, and progesterone receptors, or PRs. To determine whether breast cancer cells contain hormone receptors, doctors test samples of tumor tissue that have been removed by surgery. Learn more about Tests for Breast Cancer Biomarkers.
Source links and citations
If the tumor cells contain hormone receptors, the cancer is called hormone receptor positive (HR positive). Tumors that lack hormone receptors (HR negative) do not respond to hormone therapy. About 80% of people diagnosed with breast cancer have HR-positive cancers.
Preserved source evidence · Independent clinical review pending · Not medical advice