QUANTITATIVE MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY DETERMINATION OF ESTROGEN AND PROGESTERONE RECEPTORS IN HUMAN BREAST-CANCER - CORRELATION WITH THE RADIOLIGAND METHOD

To assess the possibility of substituting our routine method (dextran- coated charcoal, DCC) of determining estrogen (ER) and progesterone re ceptors (PR) for an enzyme immunoassay technique (EIA), we compared th e two methods for determination of the two types of receptor in breast cancer specimens. In terms of sample positivity or negativity, the tw o techniques agreed in 76 of the 82 samples analyzed for ER (92.7%; p < 0.001), and in 65 out of 75 samples assayed for PR (86.6%; p < 0.001 ). Quantitative analysis of the data showed a significant correlation between DCC and EIA for both ER (r = 0.84; p < 0.0001) and PR (r = 0.7 7; p < 0.0001). The results suggest the usefulness of EIA in substitut ing DCC, although further clinical studies are required to fully evalu ate this new method.