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Messenger Ribonucleic Acid in Situ Hybridization Analysis of Estrogen Receptors and ß in Human Breast Carcinoma¹

Departments of Pathology (H.S., T.S., H.N.) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (Y.M., T.F.), Tohoku University School of Medicine; Department of Pathology (M.E.), Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University 980-8575; and Department of Surgery (M.K.), Tohoku Kousai Hospital, Sendai, Japan 980-0803

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Hironobu Sasano, M.D., Department of Pathology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 2–1 Seiryou-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan 980-0872. E-mail: hsasano{at}patholo2.med.tohoku.ac.jp

We examined the expression of a recently characterized novel estrogen receptor (ER) ß in 25 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast, using messenger RNA (mRNA) in situ hybridization, and compared the findings with those of ER, to study its localization and its possible biological significance in human breast cancer. ER and ERß hybridization signals were both detected, predominantly in carcinoma cells and in some stromal cells, in 18 of 25 (72%) and 11 of 25 (44%) cases, respectively. The cases in which more than 25% of carcinoma cells demonstrated mRNA hybridization signals were 13 of 25 (52%) and 2 of 25 (8%) cases for ER and ERß, respectively. Among the cases expressing ERß, 10 of 11 (91%) also expressed ER mRNA; and in these 10 cases, coexpressing both ER and ß, the number of carcinoma cells expressing ER was greater than that expressing ERß in 9 cases. Eight cases demonstrated only ER mRNA hybridization signals in carcinoma cells. These results indicate that ERß is coexpressed with ER in most ERß-positive breast carcinoma cells, which suggests that the expression of ERß depends on the presence of ER in the great majority of human breast cancer. In addition, the number of carcinoma cases and/or the ratio of carcinoma cells expressing ER was much greater than those expressing ERß. The relative ratio of ER and ERß expression in carcinoma cells may be related to various estrogen-dependent biological features of human breast cancer.

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