Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Journal of Cancer logoLink to British Journal of Cancer
. 1999 Jun;80(8):1271–1274. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6990497

Expression of oestrogen and progesterone receptors in gastric cancer: a flow cytometric study

D Karat 1, I Brotherick 2, B K Shenton 2, D Scott 1, S A Raimes 1, S M Griffin 1
PMCID: PMC2362374  PMID: 10376983

Abstract

Increased expression of oestrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors have been reported in gastric adenocarcinoma, although results have been variable. Immunohistochemical staining methodologies, in particular in the detection of ER, have been inconsistent with many tumours being classified ER-negative. In this study we have used flow cytometry to quantify expression of ER and PR in gastric adenocarcinoma and examine their relationships with established prognostic indicators. Cytokeratin-positive cells obtained from tumour biopsies of 50 patients with gastric cancer and ten control patients were labelled with biotinylated ER or PR antibodies followed by streptavidin PE. Flow cytometry was seen to increase the detection of ER levels in gastric cancer with more receptor-positive patients in this study than in results published to date. We believe this is related to the sensitivity of the flow cytometric assay with the detection of small shifts in ER level detected using cytokeratin gating. On analysis, the data showed no significant correlations with tumour stage and grade, and no differences were seen between normal mucosa and gastric cancer samples. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaign

Keywords: gastric cancer, oestrogen, progesterone, receptor

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (87.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Brotherick I., Lennard T. W., Cook S., Johnstone R., Angus B., Winthereik M. P., Shenton B. K. Use of the biotinylated antibody DAKO-ER 1D5 to measure oestrogen receptor on cytokeratin positive cells obtained from primary breast cancer cells. Cytometry. 1995 May 1;20(1):74–80. doi: 10.1002/cyto.990200111. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brotherick I., Lennard T. W., Wilkinson S. E., Cook S., Angus B., Shenton B. K. Flow cytometric method for the measurement of epidermal growth factor receptor and comparison with the radio-ligand binding assay. Cytometry. 1994 Jul 1;16(3):262–269. doi: 10.1002/cyto.990160311. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brotherick I., Shenton B. K., Lennard T. W. Are fine-needle breast aspirates representative of the underlying solid tumour? A comparison of receptor levels, ploidy and the influence of cytokeratin gates. Br J Cancer. 1995 Sep;72(3):732–737. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1995.402. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cohen O., Brugal G., Seigneurin D., Demongeot J. Image cytometry of estrogen receptors in breast carcinomas. Cytometry. 1988 Nov;9(6):579–587. doi: 10.1002/cyto.990090611. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Furukawa H., Iwanaga T., Koyama H., Taniguchi H. Effect of sex hormones on carcinogenesis in the stomachs of rats. Cancer Res. 1982 Dec;42(12):5181–5182. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Harrison J. D., Jones J. A., Ellis I. O., Morris D. L. Oestrogen receptor D5 antibody is an independent negative prognostic factor in gastric cancer. Br J Surg. 1991 Mar;78(3):334–336. doi: 10.1002/bjs.1800780321. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Harrison J. D., Morris D. L., Ellis I. O., Jones J. A., Jackson I. The effect of tamoxifen and estrogen receptor status on survival in gastric carcinoma. Cancer. 1989 Sep 1;64(5):1007–1010. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19890901)64:5<1007::aid-cncr2820640506>3.0.co;2-u. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Harrison J. D., Watson S., Morris D. L. The effect of sex hormones and tamoxifen on the growth of human gastric and colorectal cancer cell lines. Cancer. 1989 Jun 1;63(11):2148–2151. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19890601)63:11<2148::aid-cncr2820631113>3.0.co;2-c. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Howell A., Barnes D. M., Harland R. N., Redford J., Bramwell V. H., Wilkinson M. J., Swindell R., Crowther D., Sellwood R. A. Steroid-hormone receptors and survival after first relapse in breast cancer. Lancet. 1984 Mar 17;1(8377):588–591. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(84)90995-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kitaoka H. [Sex hormone dependency and endocrine therapy in diffuse carcinoma of the stomach]. Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 1983 Dec;10(12):2453–2460. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kohigashi K., Fukuda Y., Imura H. Estrogen receptors in hepatocellular carcinoma: is endocrine therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma likely to be effective? Gastroenterol Jpn. 1987 Jun;22(3):322–330. doi: 10.1007/BF02774258. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kojima O., Takahashi T., Kawakami S., Uehara Y., Matsui M. Localization of estrogen receptors in gastric cancer using immunohistochemical staining of monoclonal antibody. Cancer. 1991 May 1;67(9):2401–2406. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19910501)67:9<2401::aid-cncr2820670931>3.0.co;2-h. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Kojima O., Takahashi T. [Endocrine therapy of scirrhous carcinoma of the stomach]. Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 1986 Aug;13(8):2526–2531. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kune G. A., Hunt R. F. Oestrogen receptors in cystadenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Aust N Z J Surg. 1984 Aug;54(4):321–323. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. McClendon J. E., Appleby D., Claudon D. B., Donegan W. L., DeCosse J. J. Colonic neoplasms: tissue estrogen receptor and carcinoembryonic antigen. Arch Surg. 1977 Mar;112(3):240–241. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.1977.01370030012002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sica V., Nola E., Contieri E., Bova R., Masucci M. T., Medici N., Petrillo A., Weisz A., Molinari A. M., Puca G. A. Estradiol and progesterone receptors in malignant gastrointestinal tumors. Cancer Res. 1984 Oct;44(10):4670–4674. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Singh S., Poulsom R., Wright N. A., Sheppard M. C., Langman M. J. Differential expression of oestrogen receptor and oestrogen inducible genes in gastric mucosa and cancer. Gut. 1997 Apr;40(4):516–520. doi: 10.1136/gut.40.4.516. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Smith D. C., Prentice R., Thompson D. J., Herrmann W. L. Association of exogenous estrogen and endometrial carcinoma. N Engl J Med. 1975 Dec 4;293(23):1164–1167. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197512042932302. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Wu C. W., Chang H. M., Kao H. L., Lui W. Y., P'eng F. K., Chi C. W. The nontransformed progesterone and estrogen receptors in gastric cancer. Gastroenterology. 1992 May;102(5):1639–1646. doi: 10.1016/0016-5085(92)91724-i. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Wu C. W., Tsay S. H., Chang T. J., Chang H. M., Hsieh M. C., Lui W. Y., P'eng F. K., Chi C. W. Clinicopathologic comparisons between estrogen receptor-positive and -negative gastric cancers. J Surg Oncol. 1992 Dec;51(4):231–235. doi: 10.1002/jso.2930510406. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Yamamoto K. R., Alberts B. M. Steroid receptors: elements for modulation of eukaryotic transcription. Annu Rev Biochem. 1976;45:721–746. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.45.070176.003445. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Yokozaki H., Takekura N., Takanashi A., Tabuchi J., Haruta R., Tahara E. Estrogen receptors in gastric adenocarcinoma: a retrospective immunohistochemical analysis. Virchows Arch A Pathol Anat Histopathol. 1988;413(4):297–302. doi: 10.1007/BF00783021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Cancer are provided here courtesy of Cancer Research UK

RESOURCES