Biochemical and histochemical analysis of steroid hormone binding sites in human primary breast cancer

Androphilic protein in prostatic cancer was histochemically observed with dihydrotestosterone (DHT), R 1881, and mibolerone as ligands. Cancer cells were equally stained with fluorescent R 1881 and mibolerone, and this fluorescence seems to be made up of both the androgen receptor and progestin-binding protein. The staining with fluorescent DHT was weak. Sixty-two Stage D2 prostatic cancer patients were examined with histochemical androphilic protein, and they then received endocrine therapy. The presence of fluorescence of R 1881 was not correlated with grade, but a relationship between the presence of fluorescence and the response to endocrine therapy was noticed 6 months after the start of treatment. Moreover, fluorescence-positive patients showed better survival than fluorescence-negative patients. An examination with fluorescent DHT revealed a similar tendency to that of R 1881, but the frequency of positive fluorescence was lower, indicating that R 1881 is a suitable ligand in this type of study.

Androphilic protein studied histochemically in stage D2 prostatic cancer

Yamaguchi

Sumiya

Fuse

et al. 1988

Increased lymph node metastases at mastectomy for breast cancer associated with host obesity, cigarette smoking, age, and large tumor size

Daniell¹

1988

The lymph node status at mastectomy of 623 women with breast cancer was analyzed by tumor size, estrogen receptor (ER) status, host obesity, age, and smoking habits. Of the 485 women undergoing surgery who were older than 50 years of age, stepwise logistical regression analysis demonstrated that four or more positive nodes were more frequently associated with larger primary tumors (P less than 0.0001), obesity (P less than 0.001), and smoking (P = 0.0134), but not with tumor ER status (P = 0.6718). The 138 women undergoing mastectomy who were younger than 50 years of age more frequently demonstrated four or more positive nodes than older women (34.1% versus 22.9%) (P less than 0.001), after control for other factors. Among these younger women, four or more positive nodes were more frequently associated with larger tumor size (P = 0.0093), but not with obesity, smoking, or ER status. These observations suggest that tobacco usage and obesity may potentiate the early spread of malignant disease.

Immunocytochemical localization of estrogen and progesterone receptors in imprint preparations of breast carcinomas

Masood

1992

The role of mammography as an effective means of early detection of breast cancer is well established. Needle localization of occult tumors under mammographic guidance has become the principle method of sampling impalpable breast lesions. As a result, the number of clinically inapparent breast carcinomas sampled has increased rapidly. Under these circumstances, as a result of the size and the nature of these “early carcinomas,” it may not be possible to assess the hormone receptor expression of these tumors by conventional biochemical assay and/or immunocytochemical analysis. To determine the usefulness of imprint preparation for detecting hormone receptors, 214 examples of primary, recurrent, and metastatic breast cancers were studied. Immunostaining of imprint preparations with monoclonal antibodies against the estrogen (H222SPy) and progesterone receptors (KD68) showed a high degree of concordance with immunocytochemical assay and biochemical analysis done on frozen tissue of the same tumors. This technique can be done easily and is well suited for tumors that are too small and/or ill defined to permit separate sampling for hormone receptor analysis.