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Immunohistochemical estrogen receptor determination in paraffin‐embedded tissue. Prediction of response to hormonal treatment in advanced breast cancer
Author(s) -
Andersen Jørn,
Poulsen Hans S.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19891101)64:9<1901::aid-cncr2820640924>3.0.co;2-w
Subject(s) - medicine , immunohistochemistry , estrogen receptor , breast cancer , estrogen , endocrine system , cancer , hormonal therapy , hormone , pathology , oncology
A new immunohistochemical assay using a monoclonal estrogen receptor (ER) antibody (H222, Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago) for determination of ER in formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissue was applied to evaluate its clinical value in a group of 145 previously untreated patients with advanced breast cancer. Suitable histologic material was accessible in 137 of these patients, of whom 70% had ER‐positive tumors. The ER‐positive patients had a significantly longer median overall survival than ER‐negative patients (67 versus 32 months, P ≪ 0.001) and this was an effect of both a prolonged disease‐free interval (27 versus 17 months, P 0.05) and a prolonged survival after recurrence (41 versus 15 months, P ≪ 0.001). Response to endocrine therapy was obtained in 49% of the patients with ER‐positive tumors and in 7% with ER‐negative tumors ( P ≪ 0.001). Relationship between response and semiquantified individual staining features could not be established. It is concluded that ER analysis in formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissue offers clinically useful information for allocation of patients to endocrine therapy.