PHYLLOID BREAST-TUMORS AND 3 STEROID-HORMONE RECEPTORS

The concentrations of three steroid hormones (estrogen, progesteron an d 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol) receptors (ER, PgR, DR) in tissue cyt osol were analyzed in a group of 17 breast phylloid tumors. Comparison with breast carcinoma tissue samples (n = 37) did not reveal signific ant differences in average values of ER, PgR, and DR. Comparison with another control set of 30 samples of dysplastic tissue of the mammary gland showed significant differences only in PgR values. Only 18% of p hylloid tumor samples contained levels above cut-of-line of all three receptors (ER, PgR, DR - 5,10,10 resp. fmol/mg protein). The most freq uent combination was ER+PgR+DR- (41%). As far as we know, DR in phyllo id breast tumors have never been examined before. in approximately 60% of our samples we found the expression of DR, in 36% the estimated va lues were above 10 fmol/mg protein. Cells of the tissue not expressing DR seem to belong to a special phenotype. We found no ER+PgR- or ER-P gR- combinations in them. The group which expresses DR is characterize d by a higher dispersion of PgR values.