Serum estrogen level in Egyptian breast cancer patients

In menstruating 20-29 year old breast cancer patients, the total estrogen level showed a significant increase in the early follicular phase compared to normal healthy subjects. Such a difference was not observed in 30-45 year-old patients. A nonsignificant decrease was observed in the estradiol level of premenopausal breast cancer patients compared to normal healthy subjects. However, in postmenopausal breast cancer patients, the total estrogen level as well as the estradiol level showed a significant increase compared to that of normal healthy subjects.     

Serum lipids and tissue DNA content in Egyptian female breast cancer patients

BACKGROUND: Several clinical studies suggest the prognostic significance of serum lipid levels and tissue DNA content in breast cancer. In the course of investigating the biological features of this disease among Egyptian female patients, we examined the serum lipid levels and tissue DNA content of premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer patients. METHODS: Levels of total lipid, total cholesterol, and triglycerides were measured in the sera of women with breast cancer and compared with those of the control women. The DNA content in breast cancer tissue was also measured in these patients. RESULTS: Total lipid levels showed a significant increase in both premenopausal (follicular and luteal) and postmenopausal patients. Total cholesterol levels significantly increased in premenopausal (follicular and luteal) patients with no significant change in postmenopausal women. Triglyceride levels showed a significant increase in postmenopausal women, whereas no significant differences were observed in premenopausal patients. Tumors of premenopausal patients, in both follicular and luteal phases, showed a higher DNA content as compared with those of postmenopausal patients. Breast cancer tissues of grade III showed significantly higher DNA content than those of grade I and grade II. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests an association between high levels of serum, total lipid and total cholesterol, and increased breast cancer risk in premenopausal women. Such an association is also suggested for the high total serum lipid and triglyceride levels in postmenopausal women. The DNA content in breast cancer tissue might be useful in determining a suitable therapy for individual cases, based on the malignancy grade.     

Amping up estrogen receptors in breast cancer

This article highlights a recent study by Holst et al. in Nature Genetics that finds estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-α) amplification in early benign lesions and more advanced invasive carcinomas of the breast, and discusses the potential implications to our present understanding of the role of ER-α in breast tumorigenesis.     

Elusive extranuclear estrogen receptors in breast cancer

Estrogen receptors at the plasma membrane and cytoplasm have been difficult to detect in breast cancer specimens. New imaging approaches are needed to determine the percentage of cancers expressing extranuclear estrogen receptors and their impact on cancer biology and treatment.     

Hormonal profiles in women with breast cancer (review)

The literature concerning endogenous hormonal profiles in women with breast cancer and breast-cancer risk has been critically reviewed. The many published reports have been divided into 11 groups, with each group centered on a particular hypothesis that has been either explicitly formulated by the authors of the reports or perceived by other workers as a unifying hypothesis in certain studies. The hypotheses reviewed are: the adrenal androgen insufficiency hypothesis, the anovulation/luteal inadequacy hypothesis, the estriol hypothesis, the ovarian androgen excess hypothesis, the thyroid dysfunction hypothesis, the prolactin hypothesis, the estrone hypothesis, the estrogen-window hypothesis, the estrogen-excess hypothesis, the melatonin hypothesis, and the estrogen hydroxylation hypothesis. It is concluded that there remain, at present, only four viable hypotheses: the hypotheses of increased risk with adrenal androgen deficiency, ovarian dysfunction (luteal inadequacy and excessive ovarian androgen secretion), increased 16 alpha-hydroxylation of estradiol, and the hypothesis of decreased risk with pregnancy-induced lowering of prolactin levels. Adrenal androgen deficiency seems to be pertinent only in premenopausal cancer patients, and may be a genetic defect. Ovarian dysfunction seems to be pertinent to both premenopausal and post-menopausal patients and may also have a strong genetic component. Increased estradiol hydroxylation likewise seems to have a genetic component. The prolactin effect differs from the others, in that it is clearly environmental, rather than genetic, and may represent a permissive effect rather than a true risk-promoting effect.     

乳腺癌中BRCA1基因突变与雌激素受体研究进展

乳腺癌的发生是一系列基因改变的结果。BRCA1是遗传性乳腺癌易感基因,其结构、功能异常与乳腺癌的发生发展有十分密切的联系。雌激素受体(ER)作为乳腺癌的生物学标志物,是目前较为可靠的指导治疗和判定预后的重要指标。研究乳腺癌中BRCA1基因突变与雌激素受体的关系,对阐明乳腺癌的发病机制、早期诊断及治疗有意义。     

Estrogen and estrogen receptors of breast cancer.

Human breast cancer can be divided into a group that contains specific receptor sites for estrogen and a group without such specific estrogen-binding sites. The presence of specific estrogen receptors in some tumors indicating hormonal dependency has been shown to be of predictive value for endocrine treatment. This would greatly improve therapeutic planning for patients with breast cancer. Tumor tissue from 52 patients was investigated for content of both cytosol estrogen and estrogen receptor. In addition, the total tumor estrogen was also determined in 14 of these tumors. The results of this investigation show two distinct groups: one group containing both estrogen receptor and estrogen and a second group with no receptor but with measurable amount of estrogen. Tumors with estrogen receptors have higher tissue levels of estrogen than tumors without specific estrogen receptor. Even in the absence of estrogen recptor, however, most tumor tissue examined contained a measurable amount of estrogen.     

The Implication of microRNAs as non-invasive biomarkers in 179 Egyptian breast cancer female patients

Background: MicroRNAs (miRs) are small (19–25 nucleotides), non-protein coding RNAs that regulate gene expression, and thus play essential roles in cell cycle progression. The evidence has demonstrated that the expression of several miRs is dysregulated in human cancer. Methods: The study includes 179 female patients and 58 healthy women Patients were identified as luminal A, B, Her-2/neu, and basal-like, as well as classified into I, II, and III stages. Analysis of the expression fold change of miR-21 and miR-34a with molecular markers, including the oncogene Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) and the tumor suppressor genes BRCA1 (breast cancer susceptibility gene 1), BRCA2 (breast cancer susceptibility gene 2), and the tumor suppressor protein p53, was carried out for all patients, pre- and postchemotherapy, and for all healthy women. Results: At diagnosis (pre-chemotherapy), miR-21 was up-regulated (p < 0.001), while miR-34a was down-regulated (p < 0.001). Post-chemotherapy, the expression of miR-21 decreased significantly (p < 0.001), while the expression of miR-34a increased significantly (p < 0.001). Conclusion: miR-21 and miR-34a may be helpful to non-invasive biomarkers to evaluate the response of breast cancer to chemotherapy.     

The prognostic value of estrogen and progesterone receptors in female breast cancer. A single center study

In the period from September 1980 to December 1987, our laboratory measured estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR) levels in 960 patients with primary breast cancer. At presentation, 918 of these had no distant metastases. ER as well as PgR were considered positive at values above 10 fmol/mg cytosol protein. All the patients included had been operated on at one of two participating hospitals in the country of North Jutland, and all patients had been checked up in a uniform way at one oncological out-patient department. By applying test for interaction, the PgR was found to be dependent on nodal status. Separate multivariate analyses were carried out for node positive and node negative patients. By this method, size of tumor, histologic grading, and age turned out to be independent prognostic factors for the node negative patients. Independent prognostic parameters for the node positive patients were histologic grading, PgR and postoperative x-ray therapy. The results support the theory that PgR is a better predictor of disease-free survival than ER.     

乳腺癌中BRCA1基因突变与雌激素受体研究进展

乳腺癌的发生是一系列基因改变的结果。BRCA1是遗传性乳腺癌易感基因，其结构、功能异常与乳腺癌的发生发展有十分密切的联系。雌激素受体（ER）作为乳腺癌的生物学标志物，是目前较为可靠的指导治疗和判定预后的重要指标。研究乳腺癌中BRCA1基因突变与雌激素受体的关系，对阐明乳腺癌的发病机制、早期诊断及治疗有意义。     

乳腺癌临床诊断中雌激素和孕激素受体表达的意义

目的探讨雌激素(ER)和孕激素(PR)受体的表达在乳腺癌临床诊断中的意义。方法选取2013年3月至2014年3月间大连大学附属中山医院收治的60例乳腺癌患者,另选取大连市红星社区体检健康人员60例为对照组。所有患者术前均进行ER和PR水平测定,分析彩色多普勒超声表现特征,采用免疫组织化学染色检测ER和PR在乳腺及其周围组织中的表达。结果年龄≥40岁的乳腺癌患者的雌二醇激素含量和孕酮激素含量均高于<40岁的患者,两者比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。免疫组化反应测定中,与健康成年女性比较,乳腺癌患者ER和PR水平均高(均P<0.05),且集中分布于细胞质当中。乳腺癌肿块边缘性状和血流信号的分级与ER、PR均有统计学意义(均P<0.05)。结论年龄偏大,ER和PR水平高,彩色多普勒检查显示乳腺肿块边缘不清晰、周围组织血流不丰富,提示可能患有乳腺癌。     

A clinical evaluation of nuclear estrogen receptors combined with cytosolic estrogen and progesterone receptors in breast cancer

Breast cancer tissue from 95 women was simultaneously assayed for three receptors: cytosolic estrogen (CER), cytosolic progesterone (CPR), and nuclear estrogen (NER). The main objective was to determine whether the addition of NER assay to the currently accepted practice with only CER and CPR could improve the predictive capacity of receptors. Forty-two patients were studied for response to hormone therapy and 95 patients were studied for survival; the median follow-up period was 73 months (range, 8 to 300 months). The incidence of CER+, CPR+, and NER+ was 74%, 70%, and 52%, respectively. Each receptor appeared more frequently, although not significantly so, in higher age groups. Forty percent of tumors had all three receptors positive and 14% had all negative; the remaining tumors showed all possible combinations of receptors. Both the rate of response and survival curves among 70 patients with CER+ did not show any significant difference whether NER was positive or negative. Also, among 38 patients with CER+, CPR+, and NER+, there was no significant difference in the clinical outcome as compared to 17 patients with CER+, CPR+, and NER-. Among 25 patients with CER- the rare occurrence of NER+ in only three patients did not suggest any clinical implication. It is concluded, therefore, that on overall clinical grounds the current series does not support the addition of NER assay whenever data is available on both CER and CPR.     

Relationship between proliferative activity and estrogen receptors in breast cancer.

The proliferative activity of breast cancer has been analyzed in relation to the hormonal characteristics of the host and of the tumor for 199 patients. The analyses of labeling index frequency distributions of estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and negative (ER-) cancers from premenopausal and postmenopausal patients have allowed us to identify three different kinetic groups. A first group, with a very low proliferative activity, includes ER+ cancers from postmenopausal patients; a second group, with an intermediate proliferative activity, includes ER+ cancers from premenopausal and ER- cancers from postmenopausal patients; and a third group, with a very high proliferative activity, includes ER- cancers from premenopausal patients. Generally, the amount of estrogen receptors in ER+ cancers is inversely correlated with the proliferative activity. Lower levels of ER in premenopausal in comparison to postmenopausal patients were found in low proliferative activity tumors.     

Immunohistochemical image analysis of estrogen and progesterone receptors in breast cancer

Background  Recently objective quantification of immunohistochemical estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR) staining in breast cancer by image cytometry has been predominantly performed by measuring the area of positively stained cells. However, in sample preparations of immunostained hormone receptors, both the stained area and the intensity of staining vary. In this study, we performed quantification of the stained area by measuring, tailing intensity using image cytometry. Methods  Quantitative analysis of ER and PgR immunohistochemistry was performed using image cytometry. The obtained values were presented as % of positive staining (%PS). Comparison of %PS with values obtained by EIA and with clinicopathological features was performed. Results  The %PS values and the natural logarithm of the EIA levels of the hormone receptors showed a significant positive correlation for both ER and PgR. The concordance of the results obtained by the two methods was 96.3% for ER and 73.7% for PgR. The ER-%PS values of postmenopausal patients were significantly higher than those of premenopausal patients, whereas the PgR-%PS values of the former group were significantly lower than those of the latter group. Conclusions  The quantification of ER and PgR in immunostained preparations using %PS as a parameter was reproducible and showed a high correlation with values obtained by EIA. It was shown that only menopausal status affects hormone receptor levels when analyzing the relationship between %PS measurements and clinicopathological features.     

Association between estrogen receptors and weight in women with breast cancer

A significant association between body weight and estrogen receptor protein (ERP) was noted in 83 women with primary and metastatic breast cancer. Thirteen of 34 (54%) women with weight >150 lb had low or absent receptor protein (<10 femtomoles/mg of cytoplasmic protein) compared to 15 of 59 (25%) women with weight <150 lb (P <0.025). The observed association was stronger in the group of 62 postmenopausal women (P <0.01). The findings suggest that the endocrine and metabolic milieu in women with increased weight favors autonomous growth of breast cancer, and adjuvant treatment in this group should be planned accordingly.