Clinical significance of estrogen and progestin receptors in ovarian cancer.

Abstract

Concentrations of cytosol estrogen and progestin receptors were determined in ovarian carcinoma samples from 84 patients with early (stages I to II; N = 17), advanced (III to IV; N = 39), recurrent epithelial (N = 9), and nonepithelial (N = 5) cancer and with ovarian metastases of other malignancies (N = 11). Seventy-one percent of all the specimens contained estrogen and progestin receptors (3 or more and 6 or more fmol/mg cytosol protein, respectively, receptor-positive group), whereas 10% of the tumors were receptor-negative. Primary epithelial ovarian carcinomas were more often receptor-positive (81% versus 44%), and they had higher receptor concentrations than recurrent epithelial ovarian tumors. Primary endometrioid and serous carcinomas had higher concentrations of cytosol estrogen receptors than did mucinous tumors. Anaplastic endometrioid malignancies had significantly lower concentrations of both receptors than the differentiated tumors, whereas in serous carcinomas only cytosol progestin receptor displayed this difference. Patients with advanced malignancy characterized by low estrogen and/or progestin receptor concentrations had nonremovable tumor more often, and they survived for a shorter time than the other patients.