Progesterone and estradiol-17-β concentration in human endometrial carcinoma and the effect of progesterone on [ 3H]-thymidine incorporation

The estradiol-17-β and progesterone concentrations were determined in human endometrial adenocarcinomas obtained from 18 untreated and seven progesterone treated patients. The [ 3H]-thymidine incorporation was measured in 11 of the tumours. The mean tissue concentrations of the two steroids approximated those in normal proliferative endometria. However, the progesterone concentration differed markedly between different tumours. In untreated patients the concentration of the steroid hormones were neither correlated to each other nor to the clinical stage or to the degree of differentiation of the tumours. In progesterone treated patients well differentiated tumours had the best capacity for progesterone uptake. No difference in [ 3H]-thymidine incorporation could be demonstrated between 6 progesterone treated tumours and five tumours from untreated patients.