Dictionary of Cancer Terms
View in Spanish: Receptor de estrógeno negativo
Estrogen receptor negative (ES-truh-jin reh-SEP-ter NEH-guh-tiv)
Describes cells that do not have a protein to which the hormone estrogen will bind. Cancer cells that are estrogen receptor negative do not need estrogen to grow, and usually do not stop growing when treated with hormones that block estrogen from binding. Also called ER-.
Source: National Cancer Institute Dictionary of Cancer Terms, available at www.cancer.gov/dictionary.