Steroid receptors in a group of Brazilian melanoma patients.

Melanoma biopsies from 22 Brazilian patients were evaluated for estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR) and glucocorticoid receptors (GR) by the dextran-coated charcoal method. Fifty percent (11/22) of the tumors exhibited specific estrogen and progesterone binding activities ranging from 5 to 25 fmol/mg protein for ER and from 18 to 200.75 fmol/mg protein for PR; 20/22 (90%) of the biopsies displayed significant quantities of GR, which ranged from 10.0 to 362.5 fmol/mg protein. The incidence and concentration of positive receptors in melanoma samples from Brazilian patients are similar to those of countries with populations of Caucasian origin.