Androgen receptors in biopsy specimens of prostate adenocarcinoma. Heterogeneity of distribution and relation to prognostic significance of receptor measurements for survival of advanced cancer patients.

Needle biopsy specimens of primary adenocarcinoma and surgical specimens of carcinomatous nodal tissue were obtained from previously untreated clinical D stage prostatic adenocarcinoma patients. Assessment of the relation between specimen androgen receptor site content and survival using either scatterplots or Kaplan-Meier analyses showed specimen receptor content was a poor prognostic P greater than 0.1, of survival subsequent to orchiectomy or diethylstilbestrol (DES) therapy. The possibility that heterogeneity of specimen androgen receptor site content contributed to this finding was evaluated by comparing receptor content of multiple small or large tissue specimens from the same prostate gland of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia or nonmetastatic prostatic cancer. This evaluation showed significant microheterogeneity of human prostate androgen receptor site content which was substantially masked in large tissue specimens. We conclude that microheterogeneity of human prostate androgen receptor site content compromises the use of biopsy specimen androgen receptor measurements as a prognostic of patient survival subsequent to initiation of hormonal therapy.