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Estrogen receptor levels in hormonally progressive mammary tumors
Author(s) -
Bronn Donald G.,
Kim Untae,
Divecchia Loretta,
Kibbey William E.,
Minton John P.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.201
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1096-9098
pISSN - 0022-4790
DOI - 10.1002/jso.2930090610
Subject(s) - medicine , estrogen , estrogen receptor , cancer research , endocrinology , mammary gland , oncology , cancer , breast cancer
Tumor samples from 4 different stages of hormonal progression in the MT‐W9 series of rat mammary tumors were analyzed for estrogen receptors by the dextran‐coated charcoal method in order to further explore the clinical implications of the estrogen receptor assay. The findings indicate that although the presence of estrogen receptors is not an exclusive characteristic of hormonal dependency, their absence is indicative of a later stage of hormonal progression which might be of more immediate clinical consequence because hormonally autonomous tumors have faster growth rates than hormonally dependent tumors. It is also suggested that it may be necessary to initiate chemotherapy as an adjuvant to endocrine therapy for metastatic breast cancer patients with hormonally dependent tumors in order to avoid the eventual proliferation of hormonally autonomous tumor cells which are present in hormonally dependent tumors.