Estrogen, progesterone, and androgen receptors in breast cancer in the Japanese: brief communication.

Estrogen, progesterone, and androgen receptors (ER, PgR, and AR, respectively) were determined by dextran-coated charcoal assay analyzed with Scatchard plots in cytosols from 81 Japanese patients with breast cancer. For the estimations of PgR and AR, the following compounds were used: a synthetic progestin, [3H]R5020 (17,21-dimethyl-19-nor-4,9-pregnadiene-3,20-dione), not bound by corticosteroid-binding globulin; and a synthetic androgen, [3H]R1881 (17beta-hydroxy-17-methylestra-4,9,11-trien-3-one), not bound by human sex steroid plasma-binding protein. Forty-two of 81 of the cancers revealed measurable amounts of ER (greater than 2 fmoles/mg cytosol protein), whereas the rates of measurable amounts of PgR (greater than 5) and AR (greater than 5) were 27% (18/67) and 36% (17/47), respectively. PgR were found in 45% of cancer patients with ER, but in only 9% of the cancer patients without ER. AR were found in 50% of the cancer patients with ER, but in only 22% of the cancer patients without ER. These results are consistent with those reported by Western investigators.