CLINICAL CORRELATIONS OF STEROID-RECEPTORS AND MALE BREAST-CANCER

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 40  (4) , 991-997
Abstract
Estrogen receptors (ER) were present in tumor specimens from 29 of 34 cases of male breast cancer. There was a significant negative correlation of ER concentration with age. The quantity of ER tended to correlate directly with progesterone receptor levels, disease-free interval and response duration among responders, but not to a statistically significant extent. In 13 patients for whom response data were available, no significant correlation was observed between ER levels and frequency or duration of orchiectomy response. Among the 6 patients with tumor ER levels of < 30 fmol per mg of protein, however, only 2 brief responses to orchiectomy occurred that were of little clinical benefit, while 3 of 7 patients with higher ER responded more favorably. Although this suggests that a relationship between low ER and unfavorable orchiectomy response may emerge as more patients are studied, currently available data do not justify basing therapeutic intervention on ER status of a biopsy in a manner analogous to that used for female breast cancer. Nine of 14 male breast cancer patients had positive progesterone receptor assays and several had androgen or glucocorticoid receptors. Tissue from only 3 of 10 men with gynecomastia had measurable ER, and these were limited to the 4S component on sucrose gradients.