ERP in Male Breast Cancer

Male breast cancer is a relatively uncommon disease, occurring less than 1% as often as that in females (K8). About 900 male breast cancers are diagnosed each year in the United States and 300 men die of the disease. Breast cancer represents less than 1% of all malignancies in males, and the median age at which it occurs is several years later than in females, but it has been observed in patients as young as 5 and as old as 93. 

Role of ERP/PRP in Patients with Melanomas, Thyroid Cancer, 

The role of ERP/PRP in the management of other hormone-dependent cancers has been well established. Patients with melanomas are currently treated with hormonal therapy. In a preliminary evaluation (F6), the hormone binding ability of melanomas was demonstrated through the assay of ERP in cytosol preparations. This study was undertaken to verify if some melanomas are hormone dependent and to determine the usefulness of such findings in the treatment of melanomas. About 50% of the patients were positive for ERP. ERP receptors also have been observed in patients with prostatic cancer (F7). 

We evaluated the ERP/PRP content in thyroid tumors (V4) and the ERP/PRP was conelated in 135 patients. There was no statistical association among receptor content, age, sex, tumor size, and classification. Metastases at presentation, seen in 50% of the patients, were unrelated to receptor content. While ERP/PRP are detectable commonly in thyroid lesions, no clear relationship to these clinical and prognostic features was found. 

Anderson, K. M., Bonomi, P., Marogil, M., Hendrickson, G., and Economou, S., Comparison of dextran-coated charcoal and sucrose density gradient analyses of estrogen and progesterone receptors in human breast cancer. Cancer Res. 40, 4127-4132 (1980). 

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