Lee’s histochemical method was used to assess hormonal receptors in 1,005 patients with breast cancer. Patients were from 8 oncological departments in northern Italy. The group was subdivided into four subgroups in relation to menopausal status and presence or absence of axillary node metastasis. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were analysed in all subgroups in relation to receptorial status. We observed: (1) when hormonal receptors are present, OS and DFS are longer in all subgroups; (2) the presence of hormonal receptors influences favourably both DFS and OS, but it seems to play a more important role for DFS; (3) the positive receptorial status is a better prognostic factor in groups without axillary node metastasis, especially in premenopausal patients. We conclude that the histochemical assessment of hormonal receptors is a valid method for the prognostic evaluation of patients with breast cance