ANDROGEN AND GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTORS IN THE STROMA AND EPITHELIUM OFPROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA AND CARCINOMA

Differences in stromal and epithelial cell staining for androgen and g lucocorticoid receptors (ARs and GRs) were investigated in 20 patients with clinically localized prostatic carcinoma treated by radical pros tatectomy, Sections of benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic carc inoma from each patient were stained with antibodies to AR and GR usin g an avidin-biotin peroxidase technique, The specificity of the GR imm unoreactivity was established in benign prostatic hyperplasia and pros tatic carcinoma by immunohistochemistry using the GR antibody absorbed with synthetic peptide and Western blotting, Nuclear staining intensi ty and percentage of nuclei stained were summed to obtain AR and GR im munostaining scores, AR staining of prostatic carcinoma epithelial [10 3 +/- 58 (SD)] and stromal (126 +/- 48) nuclei was less than in benign prostatic hyperplasia (142 +/- 47 and 169 +/- 56; paired Student's t tests, P = 0.02 and P = 0.01); however, no difference in staining inte nsity occurred between stroma and epithelium in either tissue type, GR stained intensely in stromal cells from benign prostatic hyperplasia (189 +/- 50) and prostatic carcinoma (163 +/- 60), However, prostatic carcinoma epithelial cells (34 +/- 57) had low levels of glucocorticoi d receptor staining (P < 10(-7)), and benign prostatic hyperplasia epi thelium (74 +/- 51) was intermediate, In most patients, GR could not b e detected in nuclei of prostatic carcinoma epithelial cells but was u ndiminished in stromal cell nuclei, There was no relationship by multi variate regression analysis between AR or GR staining and age, serum p rostate-specific antigen, Gleason grade, or pathological stage. In com parison with AR, the greater variability of GR staining in epithelium versus stroma of prostatic carcinoma warrants further study of GR, par ticularly in the area of stromal-epithelial interaction.