Enzyme immunoassay of estrogen and progesterone receptors in drill biopsy specimens from breast cancer.
We have applied enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to the detection of estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER and PR, respectively) in small samples obtained by drill biopsy of primary breast cancers. Thirty patients with breast cancer underwent drill biopsy of the tumors just before mastectomy. Both the drill biopsy and surgical specimens were assayed for ER and PR in the cytosol and nuclear fractions by EIA. ER and PR in the cytosol fraction (ERc and PRc, respectively) of the drill biopsy specimens (DBS) correlated very well with those of the surgical specimens (SS): ERc (DBS) = 1.02 X ERc (SS) + 3.85 fmol/mg protein (r = 0.958) and PRc (DBS) = 1.05 X PRc (SS) + 3.87 fmol/mg protein (r = 0.958). ER and PR in the nuclear fraction (ERn and PRn, respectively) of the drill biopsy specimens also correlated very well with those of the surgical specimens: ERn (DBS) = 1.02 X ERn (SS) + 59.18 fmol/mg DNA (r = 0.932) and PRn (DBS) = 0.98 X PRn (SS) + 54.28 fmol/mg DNA (r = 0.898). These results demonstrate that EIA for ER and PR of the drill biopsy specimens is a very useful method for the estimation of the receptor status of breast cancers.