COMPARATIVE HISTOCHEMICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL ASSAYS OF ESTROGEN-RECEPTORS IN BREAST-CANCER PATIENTS

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 72  (1) , 60-65
Abstract
Estrogen receptors (ER) in breast cancer tissue were determined in 51 patients by a histochemical method with estradiol-17.beta.-bovine serum albumin-fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugate and were compared with those in the adjacent tissue determined by the sucrose density gradient (SDG) and dextran-coated charcoal (DCC) methods. Excluding 1 non-evaluable case, 26 specimens were ER(+) and 24 were ER(-) as determined by histochemical assay. The presence of ER(+) cells as determined by histochemical assay was not related to menopause or to the molecular pattern of ER determined by SDG or to the histological type of cancer. The percentage of fluorescent cells to all cancer cells was not related to the number of binding sites of ER determined by the DCC method. As determined by the histochemical assay, breast cancer cells having ER account for 20-100% of all cancer cells examined and ER(+) cells were in clumps or intermixed with ER(-) cells in cancer tissue. The co-existence of ER(+) and ER(-) cells may be one reason for the fact that surgical ablation of breast cancer rarely results in complete tumor regression.