Abstract
Although the lung is not usually considered a major target organ of sex hormones, epidemiological observations, studies of pulmonary neoplasms in laboratory animals, and investigations of carcinomas derived from other “nontarget” organs suggest that sex hormones may have a role in the pathogenesis of bronchogenic carcinoma. To confirm that estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors are present in human lung cancers, 19 resected lung cancers were examined for receptors using a prelabeled sucrose gradient method. Three squamous cell carcinomas were positive for ER (>6.9 fmol/mg cytosol protein). Three squamous cell carcinomas, two adenocarcinomas, and one small cell carcinoma were positive for progesterone receptors (>6.9 fmol/mg cytosol protein). One tumor, a squamous cell carcinoma arising in a woman who smoked, had an ER level of 301 fmol/mg, a highly positive level even for breast cancers. These observations may provide a basis for adjuvant hormonal therapy in selected lung cancer patients.
Footnotes
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↵1 Supported by the Biomedical Research support grant 510-G15900.
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↵2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Pathology, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030.
- Received February 20, 1990.
- Accepted July 12, 1990.
- ©1990 American Association for Cancer Research.
Volume 50, Issue 20
