Forrest A P, Hawkins R A
Scott Med J. 1983 Jul;28(3):228-38. doi: 10.1177/003693308302800305.
Hormone receptors are proteins, localised in the membrane, cytosol, mitochondrion or nucleus of target cells; binding of hormone to the receptor leads to alterations in intracellular activity or growth. The development of antagonists which competitively bind to receptor sites has been used clinically to block, for example, the action of androgen, histamine, adrenaline and oestrogen. In patients with breast cancer, measurements of hormone receptor activity are valuable (1) in predicting which patients with advanced disease will respond to endocrine therapy, (2) as an additional independent guide to the patients' prognosis. The anti-oestrogen, tamoxifen has few side-effects and is therefore particularly useful in the treatment of advanced disease. In addition, two trials, performed in the USA, suggest that this receptor-blocker may be valuable in the adjuvant treatment of early disease. In the UK, further trials are underway to confirm this and to assess the relationship of hormone receptor status in the primary tumour to benefit from treatment.
激素受体是蛋白质，定位于靶细胞的细胞膜、胞质溶胶、线粒体或细胞核中；激素与受体结合会导致细胞内活性或生长的改变。竞争性结合受体位点的拮抗剂的开发已在临床上用于阻断，例如雄激素、组胺、肾上腺素和雌激素的作用。在乳腺癌患者中，激素受体活性的测量对于（1）预测哪些晚期疾病患者将对内分泌治疗有反应，（2）作为患者预后的额外独立指南具有重要价值。抗雌激素药物他莫昔芬副作用很少，因此在晚期疾病的治疗中特别有用。此外，在美国进行的两项试验表明，这种受体阻滞剂在早期疾病的辅助治疗中可能很有价值。在英国，正在进行进一步的试验以证实这一点，并评估原发性肿瘤中激素受体状态与治疗获益之间的关系。
