The authors have studied Estrogen (RE) and Progestin (RP) cytosol receptors in 379 human breast carcinomas: 281 tumors suitable for surgery, 26 pseudo-inflammatory tumors, 52 metastases and 20 recurrences. They have used an exchange technique with estradiol for RE and a synthetic compound, R 5020, for RP. The results point out that high rates of RE correlate with post-menopausal women and high rates of RP with pre-menopausal women. Tumours are considered receptor-positive when the binding sites concentration exceeds 100 fmoles/g tissue. Using this as a base 32% of the tumors are RE and RP negative. Considering only the positive tumors, 54% contain both receptors, 31% only RE and 15% only RP. The percentages are also given in terms of the hormonal state of the patients. The results are discussed in terms of McGuire's hypothesis that both receptors are necessary to obtain a positive response to hormonal therapy. Correlation between histology and receptors is also discussed.
PIP: Estrogen (RE) and progestin (RP) cytosol receptors in 379 human breast carcinomas were studied: 281 tumors suitable for surgery, 26 pseudo-inflammatory tumors, 52 metastases, and 20 recurrences. An exchange technique with estradiol for RE and a synthetic compound, R 5020, for RP was used. The results indicate that high rates of RE correlate with postmenopausal women and high rates of RP with premenopausal women. Tumors are considered receptor-positive when the binding site concentration exceeds 100 fmoles/gm tissue. Using this as a base, 32% of the tumors are RE and RP negative. Considering only the positive tumors, 54% contain both receptors, 31% only RE, and 15% only RP. The results support McGuire's hypothesis that both receptors are necessary to obtain a positive response to hormonal therapy. However, a correlation has only been demonstrated with the effects of the hormonal treatments and the presence of the RE receptors.