Metastatic lesions from prostate cancer do not express oestrogen and progesterone receptors

Abstract

Oestrogen receptors (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR) have been reported by several authors in the stromal cells of the human prostate. Controversial results exist on the expression of ER and PR in epithelial cells of the prostate. Some recent publications, in contrast to previous findings, have suggested that these receptors are also present in human prostate cancer cell lines derived from metastatic lesions. The expression of ER and PR in these cell lines has been re‐examined to determine their presence in lymph node metastases from patients who did not receive any kind of endocrine therapy and in distant metastases obtained from patients who failed endocrine treatment. ER and PR expression in LNCaP, PC‐3, and DU‐145 cells was assessed by means of the reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction, ligand binding assays, and immunohistochemistry. With all the techniques applied, the three cell lines were found to be negative for both ER and PR. Immunohistochemical analyses were performed in four lymph node metastases obtained at radical prostatectomy from patients who did not receive endocrine therapy and in 17 distant metastases obtained at palliative surgery from patients who failed endocrine therapy. All 21 metastases were negative for ER and PR on immunohistochemistry. These results do not support the recently developed concept that receptors for oestrogenic and progestagenic steroids are present in metastases from human prostate cancer. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Comparative effects of DHEA vs. testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and estradiol on proliferation and gene expression in human LNCaP prostate cancer cells

“…Estrogen-induced growth of LNCaP via the ER has been reported (11). Also, DHEA, androstenediol, and T stimulate proliferation of breast cancer cells (36) via ER␣, but this is unlikely to be the mechanism in LNCaP cells because they appear to possess ER␤ and lack ER␣ (28).…”

Estrogen receptors alpha and beta in the normal, hyperplastic and carcinomatous human prostate

“…ERs are members of a nuclear receptor superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors (Hobisch et al 1997). At present, two different ERs (ER-and ER-) have been described and they have been shown to be critically and differentially involved in the regulation of the normal function of reproductive tissues (Mosselman et al 1996, Byers et al 1997.…”

“…Several authors have confined this receptor to the stromal compartment of the prostate (Bashirelahi et al 1979, Ehara et al 1995, whereas others have also localized it in the epithelial compartment (Schulze & Claus 1990). There is also no agreement on the association between ER-and prostatic neoplasia, since this receptor has been demonstrated in several prostate cancer cell lines (Carruba et al 1994, Castagnetta & Carruba 1995, Srinivasan et al 1995 but not in others (Brolin et al 1992, Konishi et al 1993, Hobisch et al 1997.…”

WOMEN IN CANCER THEMATIC REVIEW: New roles for nuclear receptors in prostate cancer

“…In the surrounding stroma, PR expression is very apparent and indisputable; however, its expression in the benign and malignant epithelium is varied (Brolin et al 1992, Bonkhoff et al 2001, Latil et al 2001, Luetjens et al 2006, Yu et al 2013. There have been reports of PR expression in primary prostate cancer and metastatic samples, and an association with ER levels; which is unsurprising as the PR gene is an ER target (Hobisch et al 1997, Hiramatsu et al 1996, Bonkhoff et al 2001, Latil et al 2001. There is also a recent report associating high PR expression in cancer cells with reduced clinical failurefree survival in a cohort of over 500 patients (Table 1) (Grindstad et al 2015).…”