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Steroid receptors and hormone responsiveness of human prostatic carcinoma
Author(s) -
Concolino G.,
Marocchi A.,
Margiotta G.,
Conti C.,
Di Silverio F.,
Tenaglia R.,
Ferraro F.,
Bracci U.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
the prostate
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.295
H-Index - 123
eISSN - 1097-0045
pISSN - 0270-4137
DOI - 10.1002/pros.2990030506
Subject(s) - cyproterone acetate , cyproterone , endocrinology , medicine , antiandrogens , estrogen receptor , orchiectomy , hormonal therapy , hyperplasia , antiandrogen , androgen receptor , hormone , carcinoma , estrogen , hormone receptor , androgen , cancer , prostate cancer , breast cancer
Androgen (AR), estrogen (ER), and progesterone (PR) receptors have been found in human prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostatic carcinoma (PC) (AR mainly in the epithelial compartment and ER in the stromal compartment). These steroid receptors have been studied in the cytosol of 59 prostatic cancers in order to select patients to be treated with endocrine therapy (orchiectomy, administration of antiandrogens). Tissues were collected through transvesical resection and needle biopsy. Tritiated metribolone (R1881), 17b‐estradiol and promegestone (R5020) with the use of exchange assay and a dextran‐coated charcoal method have been usually employed. In some specimens receptor content was also analyzed in the nuclear fraction. AR was found in the cytosol of 47 of 59 (79.66%), ER in 14 of 26 (53.85%), and PR in 13 of 15 (86.67%) tumors examined. AR was detected in the nuclear fraction of 11 of 26, ER in nine of 13, and PR in two of four tumors examined. AR was found to correlate with the histological grade of the cancers, whereas no correlation could be demonstrated between the histological grade and cytoplasmic or nuclear ER. On the basis of receptor studies, hormonal treatment was started with orchiectomy followed by the administration of cyproterone acetate (CPA) 50 mg twice a day in 26 eligible out of 38 patients available for follow‐up with tumors examined for cytoplasmic AR. The response to hormonal therapy depended strictly on the presence of AR. The endocrine treatment used seems, in our opinion, to be the most advisable form of therapy, and is capable of blocking the uptake of androgens of extratesticular origin by prostatic cells. Although the clinical advantages of progestational therapy for human PC are not yet established, the presence of PR in prostatic carcinoma leads us to believe that progestational compounds as well as the progestational activity of CPA may be effective on tumor growth of tissues that are positive for PR.