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GnRH receptors in human breast cancer and its contiguous not-involved breast tissue

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Abstract

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the presence of GnRH receptors (GnRH-R) in breast cancer and not-involved breast tissue, and the relationships between GnRH-R and receptors for estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PgR) in the same tissues. Utilizing a tritiated natural GnRH in order to assay the native receptor binding we analyzed the level of binding sites for GnRH in membranes derived from 90 breast tumors and in 40 cases from neighboring, not-involved breast tissue. GnRH-R was found both in cancer and normal tissues. The prevalence for GnRH-R was higher in tumor than in not-tumor tissue (45% vs 39%, respectively), but the overall levels were not significantly different (15.9±24 fmol/mg protein vs 18.2±39 fmol/mg protein, respectively). The only statistically different content of GnRH-R we found concerned PgR negative vs PgR positive tumor tissues (mean content: 23 vs 11 fmol/mg protein, respectively in PgRand PgR+ tumors, p=0.03 by t test); furthermore the proportion of GnRH-R positive cases in the tumor resulted significantly higher in premenopausal patients vs postmenopausal (56% vs 32%, by Chi square test, p<0.05). The GnRH receptors status of primary tumor and contiguous notinvolved breast tissue resulted associated (overall agreement: 63%, p<0.05) but no specific steroid patterns for GnRH-R positivity was observed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio Oncologia Sperimentale Clinica, IRCCS Ospedale Oncologico, Via Amendola 209, 70126, Bari, Italy

    Angelo Paradiso & A. Pezzetta

  2. U.O. di Senologia, IRCCS Ospedale Oncologico, Italy

    G. Cellamare & F. Schittulli

  3. Servizio di Anatomia Patologica, IRCCS Ospedale Oncologico, Italy

    F. Marzullo

  4. Dipartimento di Fisiologia Generale ed Ambientale, Università di Bari, Italy

    S. J. Reshkin

Authors
  1. Angelo Paradiso
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  2. A. Pezzetta
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  3. G. Cellamare
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  4. F. Schittulli
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  5. F. Marzullo
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  6. S. J. Reshkin
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Correspondence to Angelo Paradiso.

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Finanziato parzialmente da AIRC e CNR

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Paradiso, A., Pezzetta, A., Cellamare, G. et al. GnRH receptors in human breast cancer and its contiguous not-involved breast tissue. J Endocrinol Invest 23, 90–96 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03343685

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03343685

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