AN IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF ESTROGEN AND PROGESTERONE RECEPTORS IN ADENOCARCINOMA OF THE ENDOMETRIUM AND IN THE ADJACENT MUCOSA

The immunoperoxidase stain for estrogen and progesterone receptor cont ent in endometrial adenocarcinoma was correlated with the grade and st age, level of myometrial invasion, age and survival of the patients. A nti-estrogen and anti-progesteone receptor monoclonal antibodies were applied to paraffin-embedded tissue from hysterectomy specimens of 100 patients with adenocarcinoma of the endometrium. In 34 of the cases t he receptors were studied in the endometrium adjacent to the tumor and compared to the nuclear receptor content in the carcinoma. There was a high inverse correlation between the estrogen receptor status and th e grade of tumor (R = - 0.45, P = 0.006). The estrogen receptor measur ed in the endometrium near the tumor showed a negative correlation wit h the grade of the tumor (R = - 0.42, P = 0.013). The estrogen, but no t the progesterone, receptor content, was positively related to the ag e of the patient (P < 0.05). No significant correlation of the recepto r status with the depth of myometrial invasion was found, despite the obvious interdependence between the grade and myometrial invasion. The progesterone receptor staining index appeared to be a distinct indepe ndent prognostic factor in endometrial cancer. The immunohistochemical analysis of the steroid hormone status in endometrial cancer therefor e offers an alternative to the quantitative ligand-binding assay.