[An immunohistochemical investigation of estrogen receptor in human breast cancer].

An immunohistochemical investigation of 62 human breast Cancers has been conducted using two different monoclonal antibodies, ER-ICA and ER-D 5, for the demonstration of the estrogen receptor. ER-ICA was found to be positive in 28 cases (45.9%) whereas ER-D 5 was positive in 41 cases (68.3%). In 34 cases, the results were compared to results of a biochemical assay that employed dextran-coated charcoal. The overall concordance between the ER-ICA and the DCC was 78.8%, whereas ER-D 5 and DCC was 60.6%. We thus have concluded that ER-ICA is the more sensitive antibody for evaluating the estrogen receptor status in human breast cancer cases by this immunohistochemical analysis.