Increased dihydrotestosterone receptor levels in high-stage renal adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Primary renal adenocarcinoma tissue, metastatic deposits, and normal kidney parenchyma from 16 patients were assayed for sex hormone receptors by dextran‐coated charcoal adsorption and sucrose gradient centrifugation techniques. Dihydrotestosterone receptors (DHTR) were found in all renal carcinomatous tissue (20/20) and in 93% (13/14) autologous normal kidneys analyzed. Testosterone receptors were found in 84% (16/19) of tumors and 93% (14/15) or normal kidneys analyzed. Estrogen receptors in small amounts (ER) were detected in only 5% (1/19) of tumors and in 7% (1/15) of normal kidneys. Progesterone receptors (PR) in low quantities were detected in 30% (6/20) of renal tumors and in 40% (6/15) of normal kidneys. DHTR levels in high‐stage tumors (T3, T4) were significantly elevated over levels in autologous normal kidney, whereas in low‐stage tumors localized to the kidney (T1 and T2 tumors) DHTR levels were not significantly different from autologous normal kidney. The mean levels of DHTR in high‐stage kidney tumors were significantly elevated over levels in low‐stage tumors (P < 0.001). DHTR estimation in renal neoplasms may help in biologic staging of renal adenocarcinoma and could define a group of patients in whom anti‐androgen therapy may be worth a trial.

Hormone signaling pathways as treatment targets in renal cell cancer (Review)

“…Testosterone receptors were found in a smaller number of cases. Moreover, significantly higher levels of the dihydrotestosterone receptor were found in high-stage compared to low-stage tumors (103). In summary, the utility of AR in RCC as a prognostic, diagnostic or therapeutic factor is uncertain and requires further investigation and observation.…”

Localization of estrogen, epidermal growth factor, and transferrin receptors in human prostatic carcinoma.

“…In gastric cancer, 27.8% of 108 cases were positive, and the positive rate was significantly higher in poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (26). In renal cell carcinoma, ER levels were not increased in advanced stage tumors (14). Nagasue et al (12) reported that hepatoma showed an ER-positive rate 37% in 19 female patients.…”

“…The expression of the ER has been examined immunohistochemically in breast carcinoma, endometrial carcinoma, gastric cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and hepatoma (9,12,14,26). A correlation was found between tumor grade and the intensity and distribution of staining in breast cancer and endometrial carcinoma (9).…”

“…The presence of estrogen receptors has also been evaluated immunohistochemically in a number of other malignant tumors (12,14,26). However, estrogen receptors have not yet been throughly examined in human prostatic adenocarcinoma (16).…”

Steroid Receptors in Renal Cell Carcinoma

“…In humans, extensive research on AR in RCC has shown variable results (Concolino et al 1981;Jakse & Muller-Holzner 1988;Karr et al 1983;Klotzl et al 1987;Nakano et al 1984;Noronha & Rao 1985) In a case series study by Brown et al, that included 12 primary clear cell RCCs and 5 clear cell RCCs metastatic to the central nervous system, AR immunoreactivity was present in five primary and one metastatic RCC (Brown et al 1998). A more recent study by Langner et al demonstrated that AR immunoreactivity was not detectable in non-tumoral kidney tissue (Langner et al 2004).…”