Quality control for the immunohistochemical demonstration of oestrogen and progesterone receptors
- Tenovus Cancer Research Centre, Department of Pharmacology, Welsh School of Pharmacy, University of Wales, Cardiff CF1 3XF, UK
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK on behalf of the UKCCCR Biological Endpoints Group
It is now almost 40 years since it was first shown that oestrogenic hormones exert their actions through combination with specific receptor proteins.1 Subsequently, endocrine responsive breast cancers were shown to contain increased amounts of these oestrogen receptors (ER).2 There is almost worldwide acceptance that the measurement of oestrogen and progesterone (PR) receptors provides valuable information to aid in the selection of patients for endocrine treatment.3 Furthermore, the recent overview of randomised trials of antihormone treatments in early breast cancer has confirmed this,4 and has recognised the need for some degree of quantification, because benefit is proportional to the amount of the receptor …
