Tonik S E, Shindelman J E, Sussman H H
Breast Cancer Res Treat. 1986;7(2):71-6. doi: 10.1007/BF01806791.
The transferrin receptor (TfR) has been identified as a marker for proliferation in cells in culture and can be accurately quantitated by specific radioimmunoassay. This study directly quantifies levels of TfR and compares them to levels of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR) in biopsy material obtained from patients with infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast. A comparison of ER and TfR levels displayed an exponential distribution which was log-normalized to yield a linear inverse relationship (r = -.44). Although ER was strongly correlated with PgR, there was no correlation pattern between TfR and PgR. Multiple regression analysis indicated that 73% of ER levels could be predicted by a combination of the other two markers, PgR (representing degree of differentiation) and TfR (representing growth rate). Transferrin receptor levels were also found to be correlated (p less than .05) with menopausal status, with tumors from premenopausal patients exhibiting higher levels, whereas the opposite pattern was shown for estrogen receptor levels (p less than .02). Neither steroid receptor nor transferrin receptor levels were correlated to stage of disease or presence of nodal involvement. Addition of TfR level as an independent marker for proliferation may facilitate the decision-making process in the treatment of individual cases of carcinoma of the breast.
转铁蛋白受体（TfR）已被确定为培养细胞增殖的标志物，并且可以通过特定的放射免疫测定法进行准确定量。本研究直接定量TfR水平，并将其与从浸润性乳腺癌患者获取的活检材料中的雌激素受体（ER）和孕激素受体（PgR）水平进行比较。ER和TfR水平的比较呈现出指数分布，经对数归一化后产生线性反比关系（r = -0.44）。尽管ER与PgR密切相关，但TfR与PgR之间不存在相关模式。多元回归分析表明，73%的ER水平可以通过其他两个标志物的组合来预测，即PgR（代表分化程度）和TfR（代表生长速率）。还发现转铁蛋白受体水平与绝经状态相关（p小于0.05），绝经前患者的肿瘤表现出较高水平，而雌激素受体水平则呈现相反模式（p小于0.02）。类固醇受体和转铁蛋白受体水平均与疾病分期或淋巴结受累情况无关。添加TfR水平作为增殖的独立标志物可能有助于乳腺癌个体病例治疗中的决策过程。
