Estrogen, Progesterone, and Androgen Receptors in Breast Cancer in the Japanese: Brief Communication

Estrogen, progesterone, and androgen receptors (ER, PgR, and AR, respectively) were determined by dextrancoated charcoal assay analyzed with Scatchard plots in cytosols from 81 Japanese patients with breast cancer. For the estimations of PgR and AR, the following compounds were used: a synthetic progestin, [3H]R5020 (17,21-dimethyl-19-nor-4,9-pregnadiene-3,20-dione), not bound by corticosteroid-binding globulin; and a synthetic androgen, [3H]R1881 (17β-hydroxy-17-methyl-estra-4,9,11-trien-3-one), not bound by human sex steroid plasma-binding protein. Forty-two of 81 of the cancers revealed measurable amounts of ER (>2 fmoles/mg cytosol protein), whereas the rates of measurable amounts of PgR (>5) and AR (>5) were 27% (18/67) and 36% (17/47), respectively. PgR were found in 45% of cancer patients with ER, but in only 9% of the cancer patients without ER. AR were found in 50% of the cancer patients with ER, but in only 22% of the cancer patients without ER. These results are consistent with those reported by Western investigators.