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It is important to be able to determine the hormone-receptor status (estrogen receptor or progesterone receptor) of a cancer of the breast. This information is used to predict the patient's subsequent response to endocrine therapy if the tumor recurs, and knowledge of receptor status also influences the choice of adjuvant therapy (radiation or chemotherapy regimens used after surgery). Receptor status may also have independent prognostic value, however this is still not known. A study was undertaken of 47 breast cancer patients to determine the reliability of immunocytochemical assays (ICC), as compared to that of steroid-binding analysis, for identifying hormone receptors in specimens obtained by needle aspiration of breast cancers. There were: 27 estrogen-receptor positive cases determined by steroid-binding compared with 25 by ICC; 21 estrogen-negative cases by the steroid method compared with 17 by ICC; 21 progesterone-positive cases by steroid method compared with 19 by ICC; and 27 progesterone-negative cases by the steroid method, compared with 25 by ICC. There were 11 other small tumors evaluated using ICC only; these results were interpreted using the previously obtained data. It is suggested that ICC is an acceptable method for identifying hormone receptor status in breast cancers; this approach is especially useful for evaluating tumors that are too small to allow steroid-binding analysis. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

The monoclonal antibody (MAb) B72.3 recognizes a mucin-like glycoprotein, TAG-72, which has been detected in a spectrum of human carcinomas, but not in the normal tissue counterparts. Using avidinbiotin-peroxidase complex (ABC) immunohistochemical techniques, MAb B72.3 was reacted with formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded fetal and pediatric tissue sections to determine the extent of expression of the recognized antigen in these tissues. First trimester fetal tissues failed to express detectable antigen. Gastrointestinal epithelia from 13 to 34 weeks gestation demonstrated the most immunoreactivity with B72.3 although bronchial respiratory epithelium of the lung, transitional epithelium from the kidney, Hassall 's corpuscles of the thymus, and gonadal tissues from fetuses of both sexes were also reactive. The TAG-72 antigen was not detected in fetal breast, pancreas, liver, spleen, adrenal, or heart. Expression of the TAG-72 antigen in malignancy appears to correlate well with fetal tissue reactivity with B72.3.