Estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR), and androgen receptors (AR) were determined by saturation analysis in 100 cases of primary ovarian cancer and correlated with patient survival. The mean follow-up period was 5.4 years (range, 4 to 6.5 years). Positivity for PR was associated with a significantly better survival rate (P less than 0.05). A similar observation was made for AR (P less than 0.05). Tumor ER content did not correlate with survival. Ten patients with tumors that had negative results for both PR and AR all died of the disease. In 91 cases of serous, endometrioid, and mucinous carcinomas, grade, stage, and tumor PR content, but not AR content, were identified as independent prognostic factors with the use of the Cox proportional hazards model. The relative risk of patients with PR-negative tumors was 2.3 times higher than that of patients with tumors containing high (greater than or equal to 30 fmol/mg) PR levels.